


It Happened So Fast

by chimaeracabra



Category: Charmed, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Charmed - Freeform, F/M, Love, Magic-Users, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Scarlet Witch - Freeform, Smut, Wanda Maximoff - Freeform, Witchcraft, cross-over, pietro maximoff - Freeform, quicksilver - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-01 21:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4035208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimaeracabra/pseuds/chimaeracabra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pietro Maximoff proves to be a hopeless romantic in this cross-over where a witch falls for him yet holds back for fear of repeating her heavyhearted past. Takes place post-Age of Ultron. (WARNING: will contain mentions of/spoilers of things that happened in Age of Ultron, so read at your own risk if you have not seen the film and do not want spoilers).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. один

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ARogueGambit7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARogueGambit7/gifts).



> Yeah...this is SO random. Just bear with me, because after seeing AoU twice, I have now developed a very large crush on Aaron Taylor-Johnson's portrayal of Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver. I have also been a huge fan of Charmed since I as about twelve. I've seen every episode and still watch it with my girlfriends every now and then. I wanted to include magic, since Pietro is enhanced, and I was writing a Charmed story on Fanfiction.net WAY ages ago, which I never finished. I kind of just started writing this, and I'm not entirely sure where it's going or if it will even go at all. I normally don't submit anything until I either know how I want it to end, or have finished writing the entire thing. Screw it! I haven't had proper time to write in almost a year, so I'm taking some time at last to really dig into my thoughts.
> 
> And I hate having to name chapters, but I'm just going to do it by counting in Russian, simply because that's what Pietro and Wanda's "Sokovian" accents sounded close to when I listened to them speak.

                She doesn't even remember what day it is as she trudges half awake up the stairs of a New York Brownstone. She fumbles with her keys in the hall for a moment too long. Suddenly, the door closes and she finds herself against the cold wall, her keys on the hardwood floor, Pietro's fingers intertwined in hers, pinning them against the wall.

                "You're late, Danya," he says, sighing into her neck. Just beyond Pietro, she can see into the house, the coffee table covered in a velvet red cloth, candles lit atop it, food she can smell from the hall.

                "'Etro," she breathes, smiling. His lips sink deeper into the flesh on her neck. It was date night, and she missed it.

                "I'm sorry," she admits, but when she goes to move her hands to place them on Pietro's shoulders, she feels him pin her tighter to the brick wall.

                "Mmmm…mmm," he mumbles into her skin, "I'm mad at you." Danya can't help but smile more. She finds Pietro's "anger" difficult to buy as he opens his mouth to suck on her clavicle. A _zooming_ sensation overwhelms her, and she suddenly finds herself standing in the den where she had been staring over Pietro's shoulder, the candles lit at the table creating a very pleasant atmosphere. She smiles and turns suddenly to look behind her, another _swoosh_ whizzes past her, causing her hair to breeze. Pietro's hands grip her waist for only a moment, and before she can turn around to catch sight of him, there's yet another swift sensation all around her body. She sees her dress hanging on the coat rack out in the hall, slowly swinging back and forth with recency.

                "Pietro," she says in a sing-song voice, looking around the room for him. This is their game. She hears him laugh once and her bra is slung off, landing behind her on the Persian rug. Danya gasps and turns around to another tricky wind, Pietro having run off somewhere.

                "…'Etro," she calls, rubbing her arms from the chill. She glances at the table where food has gone cold, and feels rude for having stayed late at work that day. Slowly, Danya reaches for the box of unopened chocolate on the table, and the next thing she knows, she's on the floor, straddling Pietro's naked waist. She hadn't even felt him remove her underwear, and she shrieks out loud at the sudden sensation of him hard inside of her. A deep gasping inhale and she can finally tell up from down. A playful grin rests upon Pietro's lips as he moans, pulling her down more fully on his desperation. Danya grips his shoulders, clawing like a cat. She liked it, the lack of control she would have with him moving so fast, predicting her every move before she knows she's going to make one. He starts fucking her gently, and she begins to feel a heat at her back behind her. He'd lit the fireplace in some insanely fast moment before jumping her.

                The sound of her voice alone brings Pietro closer to climax. She eases up slowly, turning to butter in his grip, smooth and melting in his heat. She had been thinking about this all day, but a crazy meeting right after lunch had caused Danya to lose track of time. She usually left work early on Fridays, but this Friday, she had just gotten caught up.

                "I was here waiting all afternoon," Pietro breathes, biting into Danya's neck. She gasps, moaning louder when he fucks her harder. She drags a set of lilac nails down Pietro's back. She craves this brutality in the way that he squeezes her butt and growls into her neck, nipping and licking, branding her.

                "I'm sorry," she sighs, throwing her head back, biting her lower lip a moment, gasping again when Pietro propels up inside her.

                "Are you?" he asks breathlessly, settling into a constant short and sharp thrust. Danya grips Pietro's shoulders, enjoying the motion. He gives into moaning and she clutches his face to admire his every expression. She nods, unable to speak at this point. When he climaxes with her, his hold is secure and warm, full of need. Danya continues to straddle him, tilting her chin up to meet Pietro's lips. They kiss in silence for a long while, until the emptiness in her stomach returns and Danya looks over at the coffee table to find the food still untouched. Pietro grins.

                "I cooked. I cleaned, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asks half sarcastically, cocking a silvery blond brow. Danya blushes. Pietro laughs. She glances about the den to find that it _is_ much neater than how she had left it the previous night, mulling over piles of mail and advice columns she'd been working on for the magazine she worked for. She reaches for the box of chocolates again, finally honing in on a sole red rose sitting beside the plate that was supposed to be hers.

                "Oh, Pietro…I'm so sorry I forgot," she explains, opening the box. As a response, she simply feels him wrap his arms around her waist and begin kissing her shoulder. He pulls the blanket he had thrown over the rug around her. She bites into a caramel-filled chocolate.

                "You'll make it up to me," Pietro explains somewhat darkly, pausing in kissing at Danya's flesh. Her heart rushes at his words.

                "'Etro, I love you," she says with a mouth full off chocolate.

                "Well, you had _better_ love me. I am the perfect boyfriend," he explains sarcastically, and she laughs. The thick Sokovian accent adds a flavor to Pietro's voice that Danya's ears drink in excitedly.

                "You could not have better…I wanted you all day," Pietro whispers into the back of Danya's head. A shiver runs down her spine as he massages her hips, slowly moving up her ribs, landing at her breasts to play with them teasingly. Danya reaches for the plate on which cold food sits.

                "No, no, sweet thing—let me heat it up for you," Pietro insists, picking the plate up. Danya grabs his wrist and holds the plate down on the table.

                "I'm _starving_ ," she insists, picking up the fork and shoving a mouthful of something she has never tried before. Pietro continues kissing about her neck and shoulders.

                "It's delicious…what is it?" she asks.

                "A Sokovian dish," Pietro begins, resting his chin atop Danya's head and sighing, "My mother…she used to make it for us all the time," he explains in a somewhat quiet voice. She can see the nostalgia on his face without looking at him. He sighs, holding onto her.

                "It's really good, Pietro," she says, meaning it. Pietro is silent as she eats, until she shifts to look at him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. He's doing it again, staring into space. She had only begun to notice this about Pietro when their relationship got serious. At times, it was like he would just zone out, leave her there, wherever they were, and drift off somewhere she didn't have to see to know there was sadness and a lot of pain.

                "'Etro?"she whispers, placing a hand on his shoulder. Touching him snaps him out of it. He flashes her a white smile, one she knows to be half true. She doesn't want to spoil the moment by asking him whether he's remembering his mother and father, the last night he ever spent with them and his sister in their apartment in Sokovia over a decade ago. He looks down for a second, absently. Danya sighs and cups his cheeks until he looks up at her.

                "I am completely in love with you, Pietro Maximoff…I really hope you know that." Pietro smiles, but is unable to hide a flash of tears welling up in his eyes. He says something to Danya in that language that sounds unintelligible to her. He has said it before and she knows exactly what it means, as the only other person she has ever heard him say it to is his twin sister Wanda. Danya's heart flutters. Pietro picks up her hand and kisses it, closing his eyes for a long moment.

                "I know, sweet thing," he says. Danya laughs. He had a difficult time on occasion using English words to call her by pet name. She never bothered to correct him, finding it to be one of his finest and more unique traits, although he did have quite the liking for U2. He'd gone so far as to establish Sweetest Thing as "their song." Pietro sighs and Danya rests her hand on his chest. When he finally opens his eyes, there's no trace of tears there; he had never given into crying in front of her in the two months that they had been dating.

                "I want to start a family with you, Danya," he says. _Not this again_ , she thinks, grinning and looking shyly away. Instantly, Pietro grips her by the chin and forces her to look at him again. His bottom lip quivers for a moment.

                "I mean it, Danya. We could be _so_ happy together—just picture it—a little boy, and," he beams, rising his palm above the floor to emphasize the height of a toddler, "A little girl, just like me and Wanda. But our own…wouldn't it be…" He gazes skywards with magic clouding his eyes before pressing a hand through Danya's hair.

                "It would be perfect. We could be whole."

Danya's heart leaps again and she takes a deep breath.

                "'Etro…I mean, _yes_ , but I _just_ stabilized my career. I've got to, you know, meet some more milestones, finish paying off student loans and stuff before I'm really ready to settle down that far—I don't even know if I want to stay in New York—"

Pietro sighs with some displeasure, interrupting her, "You _love_ it here—this is the home where your parents raised you. This place is paid for, aren't we happy?"

                "Of course—"

                "Then why not?" he asks, gripping her hips.

                "…I'm still trying to get—to reach a goal that I just feel like I can't do right now if I'm going to be pregnant and worrying about a baby—"

                "You _always_ say that," Pietro interrupts.

                "I'm _twenty-four_. What do you want me to say, Pietro?" she asks, her voice rising just a bit. He pushes a hand through his hair, a sign that this conversation has already taken a turn for the worse.

                "We've been together _two_ months. Don't you think that's fast—?"

                " _Everything_ I do is fast, Danya. If there's one thing I've learned from having all of these abilities, it's that life is too fast, sometimes more than _me_. If you wait too long, go slow like that, you'll miss out on something that could have been amazing."

                "…This is about your parents, 'Etro," Danya explains gently.

                "No—it's not!" he shouts, and she finds the two of them standing up, arguing naked in the den.

                "You just don't want me—is that it?" Pietro barks. Danya is not in the mood to argue. She feels her patience wearing thin.

                "You saw your parents die—"

                "Don't you bring them into this," Pietro says angrily, pointing a finger at her, "It—it has to do with what _I_ want. Don't you love me—?"

                "What are you _talking_ about? Of _course_ I do, Pietro! Didn't you hear what I just said?!"

                "You _don't_ love me, because you _don't_ care what I want," he snarls.

                "You're being _really_ unfair right now," Danya explains, her voice breaking and her eyes threatening tears. Pietro starts towards the fireplace and chucks a log in.

                "Pietro…I know that what you went through, what you and Wanda went through, it has to have been _hard_. Your parents died right in front of you. Your family fell apart. I get that you want that back, but why at any cost? You don't _really_ know me. What if we're not together in a year—if you find something else—"

                "There _is_ nothing else," he spits at last, turning to face her, "All I have right now is my sister. But then there's you…I've never felt this way about _anyone_. You just don't understand."

                "That's because you _never_ tell me anything about them—"

                "Stop talking about my parents," he says argumentatively, collecting his clothes from the floor, "What I want has nothing to do with them."

                "It _does_ —I can tell," Danya explains, feeling a wall building up around Pietro. With one final agitated sigh, there is a breeze and Pietro is gone, the front door slamming to confirm his departure. Danya picks up the blanket from the floor, her own clothes, throws the dishes in the sink, and retreats to her bathroom to shower alone, and sleep alone that night. She has never felt this kind of pressure from a guy before. The thought of kids this early on in the relationship generally freaked them out. She can't really understand where Pietro is coming from, other than to simply want his family back together after having lost them. Danya knew she wasn't ready for that. She could sympathize with the sting of losing parents. Hers died in a car accident not long after she graduated from high school. To continue living in the house where they raised her only made things harder some days. If it had not been for her aunts, she believes she probably would not have made it as a single child.

                She envied that about Pietro and Wanda. They had each other. Even after losing their parents, they had _each other_ to talk to, speak of their mother's memory, share in the sorrow. Becoming an adult happened so fast for Danya. She couldn't really talk to anyone the way that Pietro and Wanda could talk to each other. She knows that he must have run straight to his sister after the argument ruined their perfect evening. Danya wonders whether Pietro confides every detail in Wanda, and suddenly, she feels overexposed. Wanda is her friend, of her coven. She had known Wanda before even meeting Pietro. Yet she only met Pietro by way of knowing his sister. Part of Danya feels broken still, as if fearful that she would repeat the cycle of the death of the parents if she were to have children of her own. It happened to her, and it happened to her aunts, their mother having died when they were young, only to leave them to be raised by their grandmother due to an absentee father. Danya didn’t want to do that to her own children, if she were to have them. Perhaps part of being a witch simply entailed loss. Danya cries herself to sleep.

 

                Things feel a bit clearer in the morning when Danya awakens on Saturday. She sits in bed, mulling things over. Meditating, she reasons that she had only come to know Pietro by way of the craft. She didn't become a witch until her parents died, undoing their will to protect her by binding her powers as soon as she was born. If they had not died, she would never have discovered who she was, and if she had not discovered who she was, she would not have gone searching for answers. Consequently, if Danya had not gone looking for answers, she would never have met Wanda Maximoff. And clearly, if she'd never met Wanda Maximoff, she would never have come to know her brother's unwieldy love. Grounding and centering herself, Danya dissipates the negative energy as best she can, mail, her diary, her phone, and other objects flying off the dresser with the energy ejected. The phone rings and Danya gasps, falling four feet down onto the floor from where she had levitated. Where she lands, the caller ID tells her that Wanda is the reason for her loss of concentration.

 


	2. два

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. It's short, but growing.

"Hello?" Danya mutters into the phone, sitting on the cold floor and nursing her knee.

                "…Did I interrupt something?" Wanda asks. Danya sighs, staring out the window at the mid-March morning.

                "No. I'm fine. What's up?"

Wanda laughs without humor into Danya's ear.

                "What do you mean, 'What's up?' Did you forget the coven was meeting today?"

Danya gasps, jumping up from the floor.

                " _Shit_ , I forgot. I even wrote myself a memo…somewhere," Danya kicks through papers on the floor for a moment before straight up slipping. She drops her phone, knowing that Wanda heard her scream on the other line.

                "Dani? Hello?" Danya stops cursing and picks the phone up again.

                "I'm on my way. Just start without me."

 

                After hastily washing her face and throwing on fresh clothes, Danya makes for the front door. She pauses, eying Pietro's jacket on the sofa in the den. She knows that she's already late and will probably miss the circle casting. With a sigh, Danya starts towards Pietro's jacket. He left in such a hurry the previous evening that he'd forgotten to get it. But the moment that Danya makes contact with the fabric, a premonition strikes her, taking hold instantaneously, that same out-of-control feeling where she can't move, breathe, think, do anything but see the vision unfold behind her closed eyes. She can see Pietro, see something coming, death, and it's quickly making its way towards a man. The man is using his own body to shield a boy, waiting for the impact, but suddenly, Pietro creates a barrier between the man holding the boy. He says something, something that she cannot hear, and falls to the ground full of bullets, dead.

                Gasping for air and her knees buckling until she simply falls upon them, Danya grips at her chest and abdomen, everywhere she could see the bullets lining Pietro's body. She screams out loud, reduced to tears, having dropped Pietro's jacket on the floor. It's been a while since she has experienced such a visceral vision. With hands shaking, Danya pulls them from her body to find actual blood staining her palms. Ripping her blouse up, she checks to find that all of her skin is completely intact, but she can feel the pain of being shot at, and knows it's Pietro's blood on her hands. It takes a moment before she's calm enough that she doesn't hear herself crying out loud. A vibration in her back pocket causes her to start. Danya stands slowly, and when she pulls her phone out of her back pocket, Wanda happens to be calling again. Danya simply picks up without even saying a word.

                "Something is wrong. What's wrong, Danya?" Wanda's voice is just about as worried as Danya feels. She could never put anything past that girl.

 

                A few cups of chamomile tea later, Danya finally feels lucid enough to speak. Wanda has not yet removed a comforting hand from atop Danya's where it rests on the counter top.

                "You don't have to keep trying to block me. I can see in your head that you're worrying about my brother…I don't need powers to know that's what you're worrying over," Wanda finally admits. Danya makes eye contact with her for the first time since leaning in Wanda's apartment door. True, Danya at times would try to block her thoughts around Wanda, especially if they were thoughts concerning Pietro. Wanda had learned _not_ to look into Danya's head, unless she wanted a full-frontal naked view of her twin brother. She had generally stayed out of their relationship, knowing that Danya posed no threat to Pietro. Danya sighs.

                "In it…this vision I had today…I saw him _die_ ," she explains above a whisper, clutching her heart with both hands then, closing her eyes.

                "Are you _sure_? That cannot be right—"

                "I know what I saw, Wanda. I didn't just see it, I _felt_ it. Where is Pietro now?"

                "He—he went to work. Actually, he came over here sometime last night. I didn't even hear him come in. I was surprised to wake up to him making coffee. He's been spending so much time with you that he practically moved in with you. He didn't say much, he just said he was going to work."

                "On a Saturday?" Danya asks. She pulls her phone out of her pocket. Pietro had not responded to any of Danya's calls or texts. She called him right after getting off the phone with Wanda, after that horrible vision. Clearly, he isn't happy with her, but part of Danya wonders if maybe what she saw already happened.

                "If he were dead, I would know it," Wanda says reassuringly. Little does Danya know, what she saw was not a vision of the future, but of the past. She has no idea that Pietro has died before. Slowly, she comes to realize that she doesn't even know where Pietro works. For some reason, it just never really came up. Every time that she asked, he just said he was working with a temp agency. Until the vision, she had no real reason to suspect otherwise. Wanda looks away in an avoidant manner, picking up Danya's half-empty cup of tea.

                "Let me get you some more. You are still shaky."

                "Wanda," Danya begins. Wanda sighs. She speaks without even turning around, and Danya knows she had continued to read her unspoken thoughts.

                " _Yes_ , he is keeping something from you. If and when he wants to tell you what that is, he will—do not press him." Danya holds her tongue, but she can't help but stare at Wanda's back.

                "He is my twin brother. I would not betray him by telling you all his secrets. If he keeps something from you, it is none of my business…but if you cannot stand the pain of uncertainty, he keeps it from you because he loves you." There is a scarlet sparkle in Wanda's eyes when she starts back towards the table, the mug full.

                "When he was here for that short period of time that I woke up this morning, I saw it in him. I could read it all over his face, not to mention," Wanda grins, "He tried to block me out. Which is why he just left so fast. He also seemed….upset about you. It was weird. Please tell me I'm not sticking my nose somewhere it's not wanted," Wanda finishes, cocking a brow. Danya sighs, finally a bit more relaxed.

                "He's just…not returning my calls or anything… _okay_ , okay. You don't have to beat it out of me. We had a stupid fight last night. It didn't help that I was late for dinner. We planned it earlier in the week and I just messed up. I don't think it helped." Wanda cups her chin, gazing interestedly at Danya.

                "It was really stupid. Just…please stay out of my head. I need to talk to Pietro," she sighs. Wanda sits back in her chair, creating a bit more distance between herself and Danya.

                "Alright. It's girl time, then," Wanda says, smiling. Danya can tell that it must be hard for her not to try and read further. It concerns someone they both love, after all.

                "It's just…after I lost my parents and found out I was a witch, and then finding out that my aunts were witches…well, they're not blood relatives. But they were very close with my mom. So they kind of looked out for me when my parents died. I think I'm afraid of losing people…that's all."

                "I know where you come from," Wanda says, looking down into her tea and stirring it. Danya doesn't doubt that she does.

                "…I know we weren't going to continue this conversation, but…he never talks about your parents. I don't want to upset you by going there, but I was wondering if you could tell me—"

                "About them," Wanda finishes. She continues to stir her tea absently, one hand reaching for the locket around her neck. She smiles somberly, staring out the kitchen window for a moment. She unclips the item from her neck and opens it, handing it to Danya.

                "I'm sure you can tell which one is me and which is Pietro," Wanda grins. In the small color photo inside the circular locket, Danya can see Pietro and Wanda standing in front of their parents. Pietro is the spitting image of their father, and Wanda of their mother.

                "It all happened so fast. One minute, we were talking to them over dessert, the next…gone…my mother was the strongest woman I've ever known. She was always the one keeping me grounded growing up, taught me to have my own mind…You see, I used to always try and be more like Pietro," Wanda laughs a moment, "And one day, mother told me that just because we are twins does not mean I have to be exact, like my brother…" Wanda's eyes water momentarily when Danya looks up at her. She wipes them.

                "I never really could cook, but Pietro, he can still cook just like mom."

 

                When Danya arrives at home, she makes it up her front steps before Pietro actually responds to her missed calls and texts. _Can I come over?_ She reads on the screen. She sighs with relief upon knowing that he's at least alive. Danya unlocks the front door, throwing her purse inside. She stands out in the chilly night to respond. Almost as soon as she hits send, Pietro is standing at the bottom of the stairs. She hears him start up them and turns around in time to see him looking sorry.

                "I saw you die," she says, not wasting another second. Her voice wavers slightly. Pietro stops right in front of her, towering and looking like he's not sure what to say. Danya's lip trembles.

                "I saw you _dying_ , Pietro," she says. He clasps her hands securely. Oh how warm they are in comparison to the chilly night. Pietro kisses Danya's forehead a long moment, before mumbling against her skin in Sokovian. It's always that same smooshed sentence that makes her heart glow. She can't stay angry with him. He pulls her to him and she listens intently.

                "We need to talk…"


	3. три

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got distracted several times trying to write this chapter all day. I had a brilliant idea when I woke up this morning on where to go in this story. It's going to be interesting, considering the cross-over. I never thought I'd enjoy writing one of those. Sometimes I try to emphasize that he and Wanda have accents by leaving out words. I hope it's audible in how the dialogue is written...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Pietro says calmingly, cupping Danya's face. It isn't like Pietro to tell anyone to slow down. He brushes her tears away with his thumbs and she takes a deep breath from rambling about her fear of seeing him die.

                "Nothing's going to happen, sweet thing," he adds, kissing her forehead.

                "Pietro, you don't _know_ that. It's rare that I get premonitions, but they _never_ prove to be wrong when I do."

                "Just," Pietro begins, walking her towards the couch and making Danya sit down. He kneels in front of her, wrapping his arms around her knees, "Tell me _exactly_ what you saw. You saw this for a reason, no?" Danya sighs, placing her hands on Pietro's shoulders.

                "I'm right here," he says, grinning, but his eyes are still full of worry. Danya thinks about the discussion she had a few hours prior with Wanda. _It all happened so fast. One minute, we were talking to them over dessert, the next…gone…_ the words echo in Danya's ears. It could happen like that with Pietro, too, couldn't it? Danya sighs, closing her eyes a moment. Pietro's arms wrap around her as he settles between her knees. He rubs her back soothingly, and she simply clings to him a while.

                "I was going to leave when I saw your jacket sitting on the couch. I picked it up and then I saw you. I saw this man and a boy, and it just felt like they were going to die. I couldn't really see everything that clearly, but I _know_ you were there. The man, I think he had…arrows on his back…" Pietro pulls back slowly, enough to look into Danya's eyes. A knowing sort of expression washes over his face, that and relief, as if he knows what she's talking about. Danya's brows furrow, but she continues to speak.

                "Someone was shooting. But the next thing I knew, there was something in front of the boy and the man. You put it there…to save them. But you were shot, and you _died_." The last word gets caught in Danya's throat. He looks as if he's trying not to say something. Danya cocks a brow.

                "Pietro?" she whispers. He looks away, and she knows he's holding back from saying something. She stands up suddenly, backs halfway across the room.

                "Who  are you? Are you a demon?" she asks, the concern leaving her voice. Pietro stands up, his eyes widening. He starts towards her.

                "Stay there!" Danya shouts, casting a force field that prevents Pietro from coming any closer. He strains against the luminous lilac bubble for only a moment before standing in place.

                "Are you serious? My _sister_ is in your coven—"

                "Tell me," she demands. Pietro rolls his eyes.

                "I know what you saw, okay—but it wasn't the future. It already happened."

                "What are you talking about?" she asks. Pietro tries to get closer again, but she only intensifies the field separating them.

                "Danya, it's _me_. Please stop," he pleads. She eyes him for a long moment. If he were evil, if Wanda were evil, there's no way that she wouldn't have been able to tell by now. She releases him and he steps closer, carefully. Danya takes a step back.

                "Start talking," she says. She doesn't stop stepping away until Pietro stops trying to get closer.

                "I just…look, I did die. That was before I met you. It's hard to explain—"

                " _Explain_ it to me. I'm listening."

Pietro sighs, "I just can't tell you _everything_ right now. I can't keep you safe if—"

                "Why would you need to keep me safe?" Danya interrupts. She doesn't allow her suspicion to be lifted.

                "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think I would have done it by now?" Pietro asks gently. Her heart flutters again.

                "I don't know. You hurt me when you took off instead of _talking_ to me last night," she says bitterly. Pietro looks at her sympathetically and she continues before he can speak again, "But what are you keeping me safe from, then? Where do you work, really? What do you do? You can't tell me you love me and all of this other stuff if you're planning on keeping something as simple as that from me."

                "I don't want to do this."

                "Do _what_?"

                "Fight with you," Pietro explains with frustration, throwing his hands up. She sighs, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

                "I will tell you _whatever_ you want to know when the time comes. I just don’t feel like I'm ready to show you everything…please believe me when I say that I don't want anyone to hurt you. That's why I can't tell you everything." Pietro thinks about Clint Barton, how he had saved his life that day, the day that Pietro died. Pietro attempts to get closer to Danya again. She raises a hand.

                "I just…need a moment, okay?" she explains.

                "Do you want me to leave?" Pietro asks. She can tell that he'd rather not.

                "No," she says, walking past him and out of the room. She makes her way upstairs, knowing that all he wants to do is follow her. But he stays. She makes her way up to her room, telekinetically closing and locking the door, making it into the bathroom and locking that door as well. She pulls her phone out of her pocket. The phone only rings twice before Prue's raspy voice answers.

                "Is that my favorite niece?"

Danya smiles, comforted to hear her aunt.

                "No. It's the Source of all evil," Danya jokes. Prue laughs.

                "What's up, lady?"

Danya sighs, sitting on the ledge of the tub.

                "Oh…oh no. I know that sigh. What's going on, baby girl?"

Danya can picture Prue getting comfortable on the couch to listen all the way on the west coast.

                "Nothing," Danya sighs.

                " _Not_ nothing. You never call us just to tell us nothing. How are things going in New York? We haven't seen you since the new year. Is work okay? Do you need a place to stay?"

                "No, nothing like that. It's all good," Danya reassures.

                "…It's a guy, isn't it?"

Danya smiles reluctantly.

                "Just say the word and I will send uncle Leo to orb right to you and bring you here."

                "No…I'm fine. Never mind. I just think I needed to talk to somebody. And yes, it's a guy. He's my boyfriend, actually."

Prue gasps, "When did you get a boyfriend?"

                "Boyfriend?!"

And in the background, Danya can hear Piper's voice, asking Prue who she's talking to. This only makes her smile more and she can tell the two are fighting over the phone when she suddenly hears Piper talking to her.

                "You _did_ test him, didn't you? Made sure he's not a warlock—?"

                "Piper," Danya interrupts, shaking her head.

                "No, young lady. You listen to me—you make sure that man is not a warlock. You would _not_ be the first witch to deal with a warlock boyfriend! He could be after your powers—"

                "Piper!" Prue shouts, laughing a bit. Danya can hear the dial of a few buttons on the phone as Prue wrestles the phone back from Piper.

                "We are your aunts. We love you, honey, okay? We just want to make sure everything's fine. You hardly have anyone all the way over there."

                "I love you guys," Danya admits, "How's Phoebe?"

                "She's on a date!" Piper calls in the background, and Danya can hear her walking out of the room. Prue sighs and clears her throat after being thoroughly interrupted.

                "Yeah, Phoebe's great. We miss you, Dani. It's been too long. Are you sure you're okay? Like I said, I can send Leo over in five seconds—"

                "No—that's not necessary."

                "…You sure?"

Danya laughs.

                "Well, we still have to work on your target practice, remember?" Prue chimes. Danya could easily control moving things at this point. She knows that Prue is just making an excuse to get her to go and visit in San Francisco.

                "Actually, I joined a coven quite recently. Like, as soon as I left after visiting you guys in January. They've been really great, helping me figure out my powers."

                "Oh, honey, that's _great_. Are they treating you well?"

                "Mhmmm…I mean, I have visions too. Like Phoebe. I was wondering if I could talk to her. I just had one earlier that was…pretty visceral."

                "Did it involve a demon?" Prue asks seriously.

                "No—nothing like that. I promise. It was just very…real. I wanted to get some advice from Phoebe, since she's dealt with psychic connections and stuff like that."

                "Well, that's true. I've only had her powers once, for like, a day. So I wish I could be more helpful to you. All I can say is don't be afraid. It was like that for us in the beginning. It took some time to understand and control things. You're not alone, honey."

                "I know."

                "But if you want, I will let Phoebe know as soon as she gets back from her date. What are you—three hours ahead of San Fran?"

                "Yeah."

                "Oooo…Well, Phoebe may not actually get back to the manor tonight. I dunno, she _really_ likes this guy," Prue says, laughing slightly. Danya giggles.

                "But I will _definitely_ tell her and have her call you back directly."

                "I'd like that. Thanks Prue."

                "Anytime, sweety."

Danya is silent a moment too long. She stares at the bathroom door, wondering whether Pietro is standing on the other side.

                "Dani? You there?"

                "Mhmmm. Sorry. Just thinking."

                "Are you okay?"

                "Yeah. I'm fine. You're my favorite aunt. Did you know that?"

Prue laughs on the other line.

                "I'll keep that secret between the two of us," she says.

                "Good…listen, I've got to go, but it was great talking to you."

                "You sure, honey? I'm just sitting around the house. I'm here to listen if you need me."

                "I'm sure. Just let Phoebe know I called."

                "Okay. I love you!"

                "You too. Bye."

Danya sighs, placing her phone atop the sink. She stands to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

                "Everything is fine…let's just…get through it," she says, pep talking herself. This is something she has been doing ever since losing her parents, knowing it's the same thing her dad would have done when she felt stressed out or worried. Danya pulls her bathroom door open swiftly. Pietro isn't waiting on the other side. She sighs, wondering why she should feel so suspicious about him if he's _not_ evil or a demon. It could have been worse, right? Pietro had never tried to genuinely hurt her, if anything, he often followed her around like a lovesick puppy or kitten, something cute that she couldn't quite define. He always looks at her like he couldn't believe his eyes, the same way that he looked at her when they met for the very first time. Thinking more about him, Danya begins to smile. She sits atop her white quilt to think a moment, using telekinesis to pick up all the papers and junk that had fallen on the floor during her meditation session earlier that day. She wonders for a moment why she had never had a vision of Pietro before. She could have had one when he shook her hand and kissed her on both cheeks the moment they met, but she didn't. She'd had plenty of chances to see something, but she didn't.

                No longer feeling the sting of anger, Danya decides to see whether or not Pietro had stuck around. She makes it halfway down the hall to see Pietro sitting at the top of the stairs. She wonders whether he had paced back and forth out there, fighting over whether or not he should knock on her bedroom door and beg her to talk to him. He doesn't move as she approaches. When she's close enough, she realizes that his earphones are in. He shrugs his strong shoulders in a stretching manner, cracks his neck. She stands there for a moment, watching him rotate his shoulders. It almost looks like he's dancing, which makes her want to laugh. Danya approaches and sits by Pietro's side. His eyes are wide for a moment when he's finally aware of her presence. He pulls the plugs out of his ears, wrapping them around his silver iPod and placing it in the pocket of his track jacket. He always looked ready to run.

                "Hey," he says, turning to face her more. She can't find the words, so instead, Danya lets her actions speak. She hugs Pietro tightly. A second or two passes before he embraces her.

                "I'm sorry I got upset last night," he admits. Danya sighs.

                "Are you mad at me?" he asks. She only smiles and pulls back to kiss him.

                "Mmmmm," he sighs.

                "I'm tired. Let's just go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day," she says quietly. Pietro grips the small of her back, smiling.

                "You know I always want to go to bed with you," he says seductively, causing the blood to rush to Danya's cheeks, "But it's only six o'clock. I'm hungry. I haven't had dinner." She tries to imagine how hungry Pietro must often be, running the way that he does.

                "Let me make up for being jerk."

Before Danya can say anything, Pietro picks her up. Her organs struggle to catch up with her when she finds herself standing near her favourite Thai restaurant in the city. Pietro puts her down, clasping her hand. He starts walking but Danya stays stood in place. Pietro pauses to turn around when her hand falls out of his.

                "Wait. Just give me a minute to…" Danya trails off, blinking a number of times and shaking her head. Pietro pushes his hands through her hair and down her sides comfortingly.

                "I have a car, you know," she says.

                "I'm sorry, sweet thing. Sometimes I forget you're not used to it."

He kisses her forehead.

                "I'm just used to taking my sister and going wherever. But then, she's used to going that fast."

                "I'm okay," Danya reassures, catching her breath.

                "Besides, I'm not about to let you pay for parking when there is no need," Pietro adds. She laughs, leaning in on him where he holds her. She inhales the scent of him, still curious about the vision she'd had. She decides not to bring it up again and risk starting another fight. She trusts Wanda enough to know that she was probably right, if Pietro is keep anything from her, it was probably out of a desire to keep her safe. Danya is certain there's no other reason that he wouldn't tell her the truth. He holds the door open for her when they reach the restaurant. She pauses to lean up and kiss him. The smile never leaves his face as they are shown to a table. While they wait ordering, Pietro keeps stealing glances at Danya. She pretends not to notice for about a minute before pulling her foot out of her boot and playfully placing it atop Pietro's knee under the table. Already knowing what she wants, she puts her menu down. Pietro scratches his head a moment, his brows furrowing. Danya laughs. He looks up at her and grins.

                "Are you laughing at me?" he asks, cupping her foot under the table.

                "I don't remember what it was called—what you ordered for me the first time I took you here."

                "It was ginger chicken, 'Etro," she says. He laughs, putting his menu down, reaching for her hand across the table.

                "Yeah, that's the one." He sighs, tilting his head, resting his chin in his palm while staring at the ring on her finger. He brushes a thumb over it. His eyes fill with the same dreamy longing she had seen in him the night before.

                "It was my mother's," Danya explains. Pietro looks into her eyes.

                "You wear to remember her?" he asks. Danya closes her eyes a moment and nods.

                "I love you, Danya," he says, eying the ring again. Her heart flutters against her ribs like a bird trying to break out of its cage. Rarely does Pietro say this in English. The way that it translated in Sokovian was just much more beautiful. There were things that English simply couldn't convey with as much beauty as languages which Danya could not speak. He moves the candle out from the middle of the table, and as if on cue, Danya leans across the table to kiss Pietro at the same time that he leans in to kiss her. The atmosphere is perfect, romantic with the low lights. She sighs into Pietro's mouth, recalling their second date here. Pietro laps at her tongue for a moment before she hears the sound of their glasses being filled with water. Pietro doesn't seem to care that the waitress is right there, but blushing, Danya breaks the kiss. Pietro clears his throat and glances at the waitress.

                "I'm sorry, I can come back," says a petite woman shyly.

                "No—we are ready to order," Pietro insists, no longer able to ignore the empty feeling in his stomach. Danya can't help grinning with embarrassment as she orders for the two of them, Pietro already having forgotten what he wanted to order.

                "Coming right up," the waitress assures, taking their menus and disappearing. All the while, Danya's foot had managed to travel into Pietro's lap, where she subsequently feels him harden. He clears his throat again, closing his eyes for a long moment, clutching Danya's foot where it touches him. She glances about the restaurant, which is just about full. She reclaims her foot and stuffs it back inside her boot. Pietro smiles sideways.

                "For dessert, then," he breathes, attempting to calm himself. But after a moment of staring at her desperately, Pietro leans across the table again and cups Danya's chin, bringing her closer for a kiss. She breaks the kiss after only a moment, smiling shyly.

                "I don't care. Let them look at us. Those guys are just jealous," Pietro tells her, pushing a hand through her hair. He kisses her more deeply then. She no longer cares who's staring at them while they wait for their food. Pietro made Danya feel like a goddess. He never seemed to lose the sparkle in his eyes over her. She had never dated someone so amazing. What she loved most was that she didn't have to hide her identity at all. From the start, Pietro knew she was a witch, and none of it scared him away. Not in the least. He craved to be near her at all times. When Pietro decides he's thirsty, Danya is left breathless. She sucks her bottom lip, still tasting him there.

                "Crazy. What's taking so long? I'm starving," he admits. Danya laughs.

 

                Almost as soon as she opens her front door, Pietro tackles her, causing her to drop her keys and her purse, pulling her sweater off. He couldn't wait any longer to have her again. He picks her up and speeds up the stairs, and Danya finds herself lying on her bed before she knows it, Pietro already stark naked and pulling off her jeans. He could undress her faster than she could undress herself.

                "I want to hear you scream my name," he says, kissing all over her neck. Danya grins, running her hands down Pietro's back. He folds his fingers into hers, knocking her hand against the comforter, struggling with himself for only a moment before pushing inside of her. He starts off slow and easy to warm her up since he'd gone so fast. He'd been waiting to have her since before they ate. Danya gasps and lifts her head to stare into Pietro's eyes, kiss him, whisper that she loves him. He moans. When she pulls him harder between her thighs, he speeds up. It still amazes Danya how _fast_ Pietro can thrust. She finds herself gasping and moaning loudly, clawing into Pietro's biceps. His speed gave him the perfect pace to cause sensations she had never felt before with another guy. It isn't long before she cries out his name, exploding with pleasure. He finishes inside her, leaning low where they exchange breaths, touch each other's hair and faces uncontrollably. When she can breathe reasonably, Pietro indulges Danya's lips and tongue thoroughly. It's less than five minutes before he's ready to go again. They kill two hours in bed, until Danya finds herself too exhausted to continue. She falls asleep with her head resting on Pietro's chest.


	4. четыре

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dayum^2.

                There is a soft glow to everything, the way that it generally is in Danya's dreams. She still sometimes dreams about the moment she set eyes upon Pietro for the first time. It had felt as if the wind were knocked out of her. His smile as he laughed with Wanda rung pleasantly in on the air. And when he saw her, that smile stayed in place. He couldn't really take his eyes off of her for very long as Wanda introduced the two of them. And when he shook her hand, she swore she felt a bit of a shock, and was even more surprised when he kissed her on each cheek, almost as if he'd known her all his life. It quickly became apparent to Danya that this must have simply been the common Sokovian way of greeting people. But it didn't make it any less special. At that moment, Danya fell for Pietro, his accent rich and salient when he said that it was a pleasure to meet her. From the moment that they met, she would always catch him staring at her. It usually made Danya uncomfortable to be stared at, but the way that Pietro did so was not with suspicion or an intent to cause discomfort.

                She wondered whether Wanda had intentionally left them alone right after introducing them. She felt her heart beating uncontrollably whenever Pietro spoke. He seemed comfortable getting very close to her while he talked. She just wasn't used to it. Danya usually hated for anyone to be in her personal space, but Pietro smelled good. It didn't take long before he constantly showed up at the end of each coven meet, supposedly to pick his sister up. Wanda always looked at him so knowingly, and Pietro didn't have to tell Danya that he wanted to take her on a date. Danya just knew. He would find excuses to stay longer, talk to her. He would ask her all kinds of questions, like where she thought were the best places to eat in New York, had she ever been overseas, what did she like to listen to, etc. And then one day, no more than a week or so after they'd met, Danya found herself alone with Pietro in the back corner of a quaint Wicca store, an outing that had originally been meant simply for Wanda and herself. But Pietro seemed to follow his sister everywhere.

                At first, Danya had thought he was just used to being with his twin all the time. They had a connection that was easily detectable, would anyone spend at least one full minute with the pair. But it wasn't until Wanda had rolled her eyes and asked Pietro to go home as she and Danya entered the shop downtown that Danya realized Pietro was simply making up excuses to follow her and talk to her. She was pulling a book about herbs off of a shelf when another one dropped. Pietro bent down upon a knee immediately to pick it up at the same time that Danya knelt to retrieve it. She had reached for the book, only to end up cramming her hand directly on top of Pietro's. He seemed to move so much faster than her. Embarrassed, Danya attempted to move her hand, apologizing, but Pietro's left hand swiftly kept hers in place. She looked up at him unsure to find him smiling. And then he kissed her.

                "I _knew_ it, Pietro," Wanda's voice interrupted almost as soon as his lips made contact with Danya's.

                "You are _always_ thinking about her—you _too,_ Dani! It's about time! You two were beginning to drive me crazy." Danya had blushed half to death. She knew that Wanda was very intuitive, that she could read minds, which is why she'd tried to keep her crush on Pietro under wraps. She knew the feeling was mutual, but just wasn't used to being the one to make the first move. It wasn't just that Pietro was good looking, he actually made her laugh a lot, and seemed to be able to pick up on her mood whenever she was unhappy about anything. He would simply hold her hand, hold her and take her for walks. She never even had to speak. He would just shower her with affection and care, take her somewhere nice to make her happy. She liked not having to hide magic from him. If anything, Pietro enjoyed watching her meditate, write in her Book of Shadows, make it rain petals upon them in her circles just for fun…and then that image hits her, the one where Pietro is full of bullets on the cold ground. Danya awakens with a gasp. It's almost five in the morning, thunder sounding outside. Danya looks down upon a sleeping Pietro at her side, his arm having slung around her waist. She hated to wake up soaked from her dreams. Danya pulls the covers back gently to check Pietro's back, and when she's convinced that there are no exit wounds, she carefully slips out from under his arm. There _has_ to be a reason why she had that vision, even if it really did happen in the past. If Pietro was supposed to be dead, how was he still alive? Danya tiptoes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a shower, not wanting to wake Pietro up.

                When she feels refreshed, she sits in bed atop a towel to mask the spot where she had sweat in fitful sleep. She watches Pietro sleeping until she can't keep her eyes open any longer.

 

                Around eleven in the morning, Danya hears Pietro talking. Her bedroom door is closed and it sounds as if he's in the hallway, not too far off, yet his voice is still muffled. He's speaking in Sokovian, which she notes as soon as she is fully awake. She wonders who he's talking to. He sounds a bit frustrated.

                "Wanda," he sighs before continuing. She wonders whether he knows that she's awake, and doesn't want her to understand the conversation. His voice rises with what sounds like further agitation. Unable to avoid eavesdropping, Danya pulls her bedroom door open to find Pietro pacing, and when he turns around again to see her, he stops talking. Danya can hear Wanda rambling on the other line. Without taking his eyes off of Danya, Pietro sighs before interrupting his sister and saying goodbye.

                "You scared me," Pietro admits. Danya smiles and leans against the doorframe. Pietro walks towards her in his boxers.

                "Good morning, my sweet thing…I didn't mean to wake you," he says, gripping her hip and kissing her forehead. Danya rests her hands on Pietro's chest and looks up at him worriedly.

                "Everything is fine," he says, as soon as she parts her lips to speak.

                "You know, sometimes Wanda and me don't actually see eye to eye," he explains, cocking a brow. He kisses Danya's cheeks, pulling an arm around her. She wonders for a moment, as he begins on her neck, whether he's just trying to distract her.

                "Honey, I am yours all day," he says, "What do you want to do?"

Danya sighs, thinking. Her eyes travel the length of Pietro's cut body. He grins.

                "Oh, I know that look," he says, picking Danya up and carrying her back to bed. She laughs. When she and Pietro tire themselves out _again_ , he complains about being hungry. It seemed like he was _always_ hungry. Pietro closes Danya's front door behind him, and nearly bumps into her where she gasps and stops at the top of the steps. An extremely blonde woman stands there, an alluring red blouse exposing more cleavage than Danya cares to see. Her jeans highlight just about every inch of her figure. Danya feels Pietro's hands clasp her arms from behind.

                "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just about to knock when you came out," the blonde explains, looking past Danya at Pietro. Danya holds Pietro's hand from behind.

                "I'm your new neighbor, Olivia. I moved in a few days ago, next door…"

Danya narrows her eyes, trying to remember this. She wonders if it's possible that this happened while she was at work. Pietro travels to Danya's side, not letting go of her hand. The blonde continues to stare at him, even after he kisses Danya on the temple sweetly.

                "I was going to come over the other night to let you know…well, you were being pretty loud while I was trying to take a nap," Olivia continues, smiling in a way that suddenly makes Danya want to slap her as she extends her hand to shake. Danya looks to Pietro and his face flushes red for a moment.

                "Oh. We—"

                "I don't need an explanation," Olivia explains, interrupting Danya, closing her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again.

                "I just need to… _not_ hear rabbit sex every night. Seriously, my chandelier was shaking."

Pietro and Danya move to shake Olivia's hand simultaneously, but the blonde appears to be more interested in Pietro than Danya. She shakes his hand.

                "Hi," she says, smiling again in that way that makes Danya want to deck her. She's seen other women look at Pietro this way. She knows that kind of smile, the one where women are trying to throw themselves at a man's dick. Pietro only grins politely and introduces himself.

                "I'm sorry. We didn't realize we were…so loud. I'm—"

                "Pietro," Olivia interrupts, "Yeah, so I've heard."

Danya blushes, surprised when Pietro only laughs.

                "Uh, I sort of live here. Well, most of the time…this is my girlfriend, Danya," he says. Finally Olivia's eyes shift to Danya.

                "Hi. Well, I'm next door, if you ever want to stop by for a drink or something."

                "Of course! We will," Pietro responds, with more enthusiasm than Danya prefers.

Olivia casts him a gaze and nods before walking back next door to her brownstone. As soon as she's out of earshot, Danya scoffs.

                "What?" Pietro asks. Danya releases his hand and crosses her arms.

                "Oh…you are not jealous, are you?" Pietro asks, grabbing Danya from behind when she starts away from him towards her car, stopping her.

                "Sweet thing, I don't even _like_ blondes."

Danya smiles reluctantly as Pietro slips a hand into her front pocket.

                " _You're_ a blonde, 'Etro," she mutters. He laughs.

                "Don't be jealous," he says, grinning.

                "You suck, 'Etro. I saw you look at her boobs."

                "Hey, I saw _you_ look at them too. Don't act like you did not."

Danya laughs, turning around and pushing Pietro. He laughs, leaning into her until she's pressed against her car.

                "Stop," Danya whines halfheartedly.

                "Is she watching?" Pietro asks. Danya glances past him for a moment, she catches a glimpse of Olivia at the window. Before she can answer, Pietro kisses her hard, grabbing her ass and practically shoving his tongue down her throat. When he's done with this less than appropriate public display of affection, he turns to look behind him, where Olivia walks away from her window.

                "See? No reason to be jealous," he smiles, "She's not the first girl who tried to throw herself at me. It doesn't work on me, because you're all I want." Danya smiles.

 

                Wanda is sitting on the couch in Pietro's room at the Avenger's facility when he opens the door.

                "What you doing here, sis?" he asks, pulling his jacket off, "It's so late."

She rolls her eyes, standing.

                "You're going to have to tell her soon, Pietro."

                "I don't have to tell her _anything_ ," he says argumentatively, recalling the conversation with his twin, the one that woke Danya up.

                "Pietro—"

                " _No_. Why you gotta ruin a good thing when I finally find it?"

                "Look, I know you love her, Pietro, but she's already suspicious. She got that vision. She's not going to let it be. Dani is a curious witch, okay?"

                "She doesn't have to know about all of _this_. I can't risk her getting hurt—"

                "What, so you gonna keep _lying_ to her? Pietro, eventually she's gonna find out."

Pietro sighs, pulling open his closet.

                "How'd you even know I was going to be here?" he asks after a moment of silence.

                "I knew you were running out of clean clothes. I heard you thinking about it when you came by my place the other night. You don't do your laundry at her house."

Pietro pulls his shirt off, sighing.

                "I'm gonna tell her what you are sooner or later, because I'm an Avenger, too. She's my best friend, Pietro. I'm not going to keep that from her forever. Danya is a powerful witch, too. She can handle hers—"

                "You better keep your mouth shut!" Pietro yells. Wanda's eyes widen. Rarely does Pietro yell at her, but Wanda can sense the anger in him immediately.

                "She's _my_ girlfriend."

                "And she's _my_ friend," Wanda retorts.

                "You know something, Pietro. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have _met_ her! I'm not stupid. I can see what you're thinking about her all the time. Are you _crazy_ , Pietro? Why on earth would you think you can even _have_ kids? We are not normal people—"

                "Don't read my mind. There are things I'm allowed to keep to _myself_."

Wanda crosses her arms and shakes her head. There's a knock at Pietro's door and then Clint simply opens it. He looks in with furrowed brows.

                "What's all that noise? Why are you guys yelling? It's almost midnight."

                "Sorry, Clint. I was just dropping by for some things," Pietro responds, pulling on a clean shirt. He shoves some more clothes into a duffel bag and starts for the door.

                "Hey, where are you rushing off to? Still sleeping at Wanda's apartment? You guys can stay. You have rooms here too, you know," Barton says, "You've been spending less and less time here these days."

                "Pietro has a girl—"

                " _Wanda!_ " he warns. But she has already said enough that Barton is able to catch on. He grins sideways at Pietro. Pietro glares at his sister.

                "Well…when are you going to introduce her to the family?" Barton asks. Pietro sighs, pausing at the door.

                " _Please_ , Clint. Don't tell _anybody_ about her. Okay? She doesn't know anything about what I do here. I don't want to bring her into all of this, okay?"

                "…Okay," Barton responds seriously. He looks at Pietro with concern, and then to Wanda for some kind of answer. Pietro makes his way out again, leaving Wanda in his room. If anyone understands wanting to protect the people they love from the horrors they had to deal with as Avengers, it was Barton, and Pietro knew it. Wanda had gotten an apartment simply to take breaks from being around the Avengers all the time. Knowing everyone's thoughts was sometimes awkward, depressing, even disturbing. Pietro had initially been against his sister moving out on her own, but he eventually got used to it, spending nights on her pull-out couch just to make sure she was okay. And after he met Danya, he just wanted to be with her all of the time. He had never felt this kind of love before. As he runs back to Danya's place, he knows she's probably still sleeping. He had slipped out after being sure she was asleep; she always went to bed earlier on Sunday nights to prepare for work the following day. Pietro nearly stops at the top of Danya's steps before noticing that Olivia is sitting outside in the dark. So he runs past her around the block and walks around it normally, not wanting to draw suspicion.

                "Pietro," Olivia calls, jumping up off the steps. Pietro pauses with his duffel bag.

                "What are you doing out here so late?" he asks.

                "I could ask you the same," she says, cocking a brow and eying his bag.

                "Late night gym. I don't always sleep so well. Kills time," he says, lying smoothly.

                "Well…I kinda locked myself out while taking out the trash. Do you think you could help me open the door?"

Under the street light, Pietro can see Olivia look at him hopefully.

                "Uhm, alright. I think I can try to get the door open. Just give me a minute."

                "Great. Thank you _so_ much. This usually doesn't happen to me," Olivia swears.

                "Don't worry. Just give me a minute." Pietro grins, walking up the steps and opening the door. He drops his bag in the den before moving to the mantle above the fireplace where he'd seen a small screwdriver sitting every now and then. Whistling casually, Pietro picks up the small tool. When he makes it back out into the hall, Olivia is standing in the doorway. She backs up to let him through.

                "Thanks. You're the best. I'm sorry to bother you so late. I was trying to decide whether I should ring the bell when you came along."

                "No, it's no problem," Pietro insists personably. He continues to whistle while attempting to pick Olivia's lock. She clears her throat behind him.

                "I woulda put one of those hide-a-keys out here, but I haven't gotten around to it."

                "Nah, it's foolish," Pietro says, glancing up at her, "Some thief will _always_ know where to find it. A rock, under a flower pot, makes no difference." Olivia laughs.

                "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I have such a kind neighbor."

Pietro laughs, continuing at his work. He notices Olivia stand at his side then, and from his peripheral vision, he can see that she's wearing a short skirt, a _short_ ass skirt, too short for this type of chilly weather. He doesn't stare at her legs, but feels her get a little bit closer to him. For a moment, he swears he hears Olivia sniffing, as if to smell him. With relief, he sighs when the door finally opens. He stands up straight and Olivia takes a step back.

                "There you go!" he says with accomplishment. Olivia laughs, stepping halfway into her house. She thanks Pietro and he starts down the steps.

                "Hey—wait a sec," she says, and he feels a hand clutch his elbow. He whips his head around to look at her.

                "Huh?"

                "Won't you come over sometime, like I offered before? I've got some pretty good beer. Uh, my brother works at a brewery, so I get deals. My fridge is always full."

As kindly as he can, Pietro maneuvers out of Olivia's hold.

                "Sure. Why not?" he asks, grinning, patting her on the shoulder once, like a friend would have done to another.

                "That way, you can pay me back for fixing your door problem."

Olivia laughs.

                "Where are you from? Your accent is just _so_ cute."

Pietro laughs, glancing over towards Danya's open front door, hoping she hasn't woken up to find him missing from bed. He begins to feel like Olivia is trying to flirt with him.

                "Sokovia," he says, starting down the stairs backwards. Olivia steps outside of her house.

                "What brings you all the way to the States?"

                "My girlfriend," he says, "You know, 'cause I'm in love with her…Work as well. Goodnight." He starts away before Olivia can ask him anymore questions. He can't help but feel a sense of oddness about his interaction with Olivia. She seemed to be ignoring the signs that he was _clearly_ in a relationship. In fact, it was as if she didn't even see Danya holding his hand, watch him kiss her on the cheek when they first met her. Pietro stops furrowing his brows and shakes his head, making sure the door is completely locked.

                "Weird girl," he sighs, turning to pick up his bag. When he makes it back into Danya's room, he finds her safely asleep. He removes his clothes down to his boxers and slips back into bed with her, kissing her on the cheek and spooning her.


	5. пять

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props to anyone who picks up on the Charmed references in this chapter! *cough*demons!*cough*

                Danya awakens to her phone vibrating on the dresser. She wakes up to pick it up before Pietro is awoken. It's only seven twenty-eight, two minutes before Danya's alarm is set to actually go off. She turns her alarm clock off in the same moment that she stares at her phone. The screen tells her that Phoebe Halliwell is calling. She grins sleepily, taking her phone into the bathroom.

                "Hello," she says quietly.

                "Oh!" It's four-thirty in the morning in San Francisco. I was just going to leave you a message," Phoebe explains, surprised that Danya had picked up. Danya laughs sleepily, reaching for her toothbrush.

                "It's okay. I was gonna wake up in about a minute, anyway."

                "Oh, well hi Dani!"

                "Wait, what are you doing awake at four in the morning?"

                "Oh, I was just working on a vanquish. Everything's fine. I promise. Prue told me you called the other day. I'm so sorry I missed you. I was on kind of a getaway date for the weekend."

Danya laughs. Phoebe was the epitome of love, always wanting it, having it, bringing it into her life.

                "So, I heard that you had a vision, missy. Spill."

Danya sighs, sitting on the ledge of her tub.

                "Well, it involved my boyfriend, Pietro. He knows I'm a witch. His sister is a witch, so we're all good on that, but, like, the other day, I had a vision where I saw him die. When I talked to him about it, he said that what I saw was actually the _past_ , that it already happened. But I can't help shaking the feeling that I had that vision for a reason. Long story short, do you think I should be worried?"

                "Whoa, whoa, whoa, is your boyfriend a witch?"

                "…Something like that. It's okay, he's fine with it. He's not going to try and expose me or anything."

                "Alright. Well, the way I see it, premonitions happen for a reason. Just be alert, you know, on the lookout. If he died before, I don't see why there was a point to having this vision. You're not meant to stop it. When did you get it? Did you touch something of his first?"

                "Yeah—that's exactly what happened. And it was after we had a fight. I was angry with him, until I had that vision. It scared the hell out of me."

                "Oh, honey. Hmm…do you think it was just your anger being channeled through your powers? I doubt it's anything to worry about, since it already happened. Don't be so hard on yourself. Did you two make up?"

                "Yeah," Danya sighs with relief, "I just wanted your advice, since you're the only other psychic I know."

                "For my niece, any time."

Danya smiles.

                "Well, thanks for the wakeup call. And good luck with your vanquish."

                "Of course, Dani. And you _have_ to come out here and visit us when the weather gets nicer. Feels like I haven't seen you in a lifetime."

                "I will."

                "That's my girl. Go conquer Manhattan."

Danya laughs. Luckily, Pietro sleeps all the way through Danya getting ready for work. She can't help pausing to stare at him a while, wondering when he's going to get up. When he spent the night, he didn't usually awaken as early as she did. She wonders with a pang of fear whether Pietro even works for the mafia. He's always taking her out to dinner. The money had to be coming from _somewhere._ Danya ponders it… _Maybe there's a Sokovian mafia!_ He still hasn't told her the truth about his job.

                "'Etro…what are you hiding?" she whispers, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead gently before walking out her bedroom door. By lunchtime, Pietro has texted to ask how Danya's day is going, something he often did. She smiles, biting into her sandwich. She responds with a smiley face to tell him that she couldn't be happier to wake up next to him every day. He texts her back to say that he loves her. Everything just seems perfect. Pietro asks whether she wants to do dinner with the new neighbor, as Olivia had asked the other day. Danya texts Pietro back to say she'll only agree to it if he won't look at Olivia's chest the entire time. He responds by saying that she's not very funny. Danya laughs into her water bottle before agreeing to do dinner.

 

                When Danya opens her front door, her iHome is blasting Coldplay. She grins, knowing that Pietro is still around. She barely closes the front door when she feels a breeze, followed by her purse leaving her shoulder. She turns to see it sitting on the small table by the door.

                "'Etro?" she calls, grinning, taking a few steps further into the house. He liked to play with her at times. She laughs, slowly taking steps further in.

                "Pietro Maximoff," she calls over the music, "You are _not_ funny…" When she steps around the corner, Pietro's lips smack over hers and his arms fold around her waist. She continues to laugh through the kiss.

                "Really? Then why are you laughing just now?" he asks sarcastically, cocking his head to the side. Danya pushes a hand through his hair, just as Yellow begins to play.

                "I love this song," Pietro grins, folding a hand into Danya's and whisking her into the room to dance. He sings the words, his eyes twinkling in a way that Danya only sees when Pietro looks at her.

                "We're still doing dinner with the neighbor?" she asks, smiling. Pietro guides her to twirl while continuing to sing. He nods and dips her. Danya laughs.

                " _You know I love you so._ "

                "I love you, Pietro," she says naturally. His smile is real as he leads her back up and she rests her head against his shoulder. He sways back and forth to the music. It had been so much fun introducing Pietro to music and food all around the city, make favourite playlists and mark favourite spots with him. He was like a child, in a way, experiencing so many new things, things that seemed like magic to him. Danya holds Pietro tighter. He holds her tighter as a response. She sighs, pulling her head back to look at him. They spin, lost in each other for a number of seconds. Pietro dips his head to kiss Danya. Paradise Circus plays almost as soon as Pietro's tongue slips into Danya's mouth. She _is_ in paradise under Pietro's touch. He exhales a hot and aroused breath that she inhales with greed. The music only makes the mood stronger.

                When he touched her, it was like going lightheaded. She couldn't think or see, all she felt were his hands on her, the weight of a body on her own. She doesn't even realize that her clothes are off until they are actually making love. As she runs her hands up over Pietro's perfect chest, she can no longer keep quiet, his thrusts getting more passionate. He normally doesn't go as slow, only starts out that way. She knows that he just wants to make it last for her, make her orgasm more intense. She shivers, feeling it coming. Pietro picks up the pace. His name rings from her lungs and he grunts with finality, clutching the back of her neck, letting his weight down to relax. She smoothes his hair repetitively, comfortingly rubs his back. He lays upon her chest, satisfied. He squeezes up and down the length of her thigh for a minute while they catch their breath.

                "I'm hungry."

Danya laughs.

 

                "Why do you look so worried?" Pietro asks, kissing Danya on the cheek and pulling his arm around her waist. He hadn't stopped touching it from the moment that she slipped into her red pencil skirt. Danya shakes her head.

                "I don't know…I just get this weird vibe from Olivia. I can't put my finger on it." Pietro looks at Danya in the mirror in front of which they both stand as she brushes her hair a final few times.

                "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think she is weird, too. She doesn't seem to realize that you're my girlfriend," Pietro explains.

                "Come on, let's go make sure she knows," he says, pulling out his phone to take a picture of their reflections. She's taken by a bit of surprise when he kisses her while snapping the shot. He laughs, and she knows that he's about to post it on Facebook.

                "I love you, Pietro," Danya says.

                "I love you much more," he says, pulling her closer for another kiss. She clasps his shoulders, and hears his stomach growl. She smiles against his lips before turning and pulling him by the collar out the door. They don't stand outside waiting for long after ringing the bell. Olivia opens the door several seconds after Pietro rings the bell. He holds Danya's hand a bit tighter.

                "Hey," Olivia grins. She finally makes eye contact with Danya, which feels like the first time since they'd met her. She waves them both in.

                "Good afternoon, guys," she says cheerfully. The aroma of spices fills the air. Pietro inhales pleasantly, and his stomach growls audibly. Danya grins, running her hand over his chest momentarily.

                "Well, I hope you'll make yourselves at home. I've got some chicken baking and I've made a salad—there's tons of dressings so take your pick. Olivia leads them into the kitchen. A tall blonde is sitting waiting at the kitchen table. He waves, standing to shake Pietro's hand as soon as they enter. Pietro appears a bit taken aback to realize that for once, he's not the tallest guy in the room.

                "This is my brother, Andy," Olivia explains, "And Andy, these are my neighbors Pietro and…" Olivia trails off, staring at Danya.

                "Danya," Pietro says after an awkward moment of silence. Andy shakes her hand.

                "I'm _so_ sorry! I can be bad with names at times," Olivia explains, tapping Danya on the shoulder. Danya grins politely, but can't help feeling somewhat annoyed at how much cleavage Olivia is showing yet again. It almost feels as if she's _trying_ to throw her breasts in Pietro's face. Andy almost immediately offers everyone drinks, and Pietro is the first to look at the vodka sitting on the counter. The evening progresses and they eat and drink, laugh, and Pietro seems to be enjoying himself, pulling his arm around Danya every time Olivia starts staring at him, stealing moments to give her a forehead or cheek kiss, although Danya can't help wondering whether he's actually doing it because Andy seems to like looking at her. The oven timer begins to beep for the cake Olivia had baked for dessert. Pietro's glass is empty, and Andy offers to go fill it up. He disappears to the kitchen at the same time that Danya asks Olivia for the restroom. Olivia directs Danya up the stairs before hurrying to the kitchen, and Pietro finds himself alone in the dining room. He flips open his phone to find a missed call from Wanda, who had also sent him a text asking whether he meant to skip out on the meeting. The Avenger's had them bi-weekly on a regular basis to check in with each other and also to discuss their progress regarding their search to locate Dr. Banner, who had gone AWOL after they'd defeated Ultron in Sokovia.

                Pietro sighs, rolling his eyes. He hadn't told Wanda he wasn't coming. He actually meant not to tell her a thing. Steve already knew he was out on personal business and promised to fill him in when he made his way back to their facility. Pietro's fingers text with incredible speed as he mutters under his breath.

                "Can't. Doing dinner with friends. See you later tonight at headquarters."

Olivia waltzes back into the dining room with potholders on her hands. She places a cake on trivets atop the table, smiling. She takes her seat again on the other side of the table.

                "So, I hate to bring it up again," Olivia starts, gazing skywards for a moment, "but, uhm, you and Danya…I can still hear you guys getting down and dirty." Pietro tries his best not to laugh, realizing that blasting Danya's music apparently had made no difference.

                "But, you know, it's okay. I had worse neighbors in college, believe it or not."

                "Is that so?" Pietro asks, cocking a brow. Olivia laughs.

                "Sounds like you've got a great testosterone level, the way she was moaning."

Pietro cocks his head to the side, getting a bit red in the face, wondering what's taking Olivia's brother so long with his drink. Olivia twirls a lock of blonde hair between her fingers. But before he can say another word, Danya reclaims her seat beside him and Andy returns with a few beers.

                "Sorry, Pietro. Out of vodka. Are you _sure_ you're not the least bit drunk?"

Pietro laughs. It was true that being fast had its metabolic perks. Pietro's phone vibrates atop the table. He recognizes Wanda's number as soon as it pops up. He sighs, excusing himself. He stops in the kitchen before speaking.

                "What is it?" he asks impatiently.

                "Excuse you," Wanda retorts, "What is the matter with you lately? You're beginning to shirk your duties."

                "You are one to talk—you _moved out_ —"

                "So did _you_ —"

                "I did not!"

                "You barely spend _two_ nights a week here. Everybody knows that you're not just spending the time at my apartment. Pietro, we _need_ you right now…"

He sighs.

                " _Please_ …I haven't told anyone about Danya, alright? Only Clint knows. Just get over here. You can sleep over her place when we're done. You know Dr. Banner is still  missing—"

                "Okay, okay. I'll be there in a minute," he promises before hanging up. He sighs, hoping that Danya won't be too upset with him for leaving in the middle of dessert. Danya is already standing at the entrance to the kitchen by the time Pietro turns around.

                "I heard you yelling…what's wrong?"

Pietro smiles, closing the gap between them and placing his hands on her hips.

                "Sweet thing, I have to go. Something came up at work—Wanda's car broke down somewhere. I gotta go help." He hates having to lie to her. To his relief, Danya only smiles and kisses him.

                "Am I going to sleep alone tonight?" she whispers. His heart races and he tucks some hair behind Danya's ear.

                "Only if you want to…you know I can't stay away from you for long," he admits. They start kissing, and things get pretty heated until Pietro hears someone stop behind Danya. He opens his eyes to see Olivia standing there, holding two unopened beers. Breaking the kiss, Pietro speaks over Danya's head.

                "I'm sorry. I hate to be so rude, but something came up at work and I have to go."

                "Aww, really? The fun was just getting started," Olivia explains, frowning.

                "It's okay. I can still stick around, till maybe ten," Danya explains.

                "Great! Come on. Thanks for coming, Pietro." Olivia walks right up, hooking her arm around Danya's. Danya laughs as Olivia leads her out of the kitchen. Judging by the things she had said to him while they were alone, Pietro suddenly feels wary of leaving Danya alone with Olivia. Her brother seemed normal, but he just got this strange vibe from Olivia. She seemed to be trying to come onto him, regardless of how many times he kissed Danya, touched her while they were in plain view. He takes a deep breath, starting down the hall where Olivia is already waiting at the door to see him out.

                "We'll miss you. Maybe next time you'll be able to actually try some cake."

                "Yeah," Pietro grins, "Thanks for dinner." When the door closes behind him, he can hear Danya laughing genuinely. She sounds as if she's enjoying herself. He tries to reassure himself that she'll be fine without him before speeding off to the meeting he's already late for.

 

                "That looks really cool," Danya says, eying Andy's ring. Her stomach is full of food, but she still takes a small slice of cake, enjoying the sweetness on her tongue.

                "Oh, this?" he asks, lifting his hand somewhat. Danya nods.

                "Is it an antique? It looks kinda old."

                "Not really," Andy says nonchalantly, pulling the hand wearing the piece of jewelry through his hair. Olivia quickly changes the subject, asking Danya where Pietro works that he would still be needed at nine-thirty at night.

                "Uhm…" Danya again wonders the same thing, but she tries to get creative, finding Olivia's interest in her boyfriend a bit too rampant.

                "Uhm, law firm. Yeah, I think he does some kind of…you know…paralegal thing…there," she grins, picking up her drink and finishing it.

                "But really, have you ever thought of having that thing appraised, Andy? It looks like it's worth something." Danya skillfully shifts the conversation back to Andy's ring. He and Olivia cast each other strange glances for a second.

                "Oh—nah. It's just a class ring," Andy says, waving his hand as if explaining it away before directing the conversation towards Danya.

                "So you work at a magazine? In New York, I'd say that's quite the accomplishment."

                "Thank you," she says humbly. From there, they just continue to ask Danya questions about herself, and she begins to lose interest in Andy's ring. But still, something feels suspicious and she can't quite put her finger on it. She just tries to get through the evening as best she can without Pietro.

 

                "Better late than never, right?" Pietro says, following Wanda into her room after the meeting. Clint wouldn't stop slyly asking him about Danya, where she lived, what she looked like, when he was going to be able to meet her, but Pietro wanted none of it and made it clear not to discuss her around the rest of the team. Wanda sighs.

                "You could have been _on_ _time_. There's no excuse, considering how fast you are."

                "Look, sis, I don't want to fight with you…but can you _please_ , please just let me…let me get Danya a bit more comfortable with me before I tell her everything? Can you at least let me do that?"

Wanda crosses her arms.

                "…Fine, Pietro. But you can't keep all of this a secret forever. I feel badly lying to her about what I do for work."

                "I know—I know. I understand. I'll tell her. Just, I need more time. I don't want her to get hurt. Just by _knowing_ all of this, it puts anyone at risk—"

                "Do you love her?"

                "You see my thoughts. Why would you even ask—?"

                "Because sooner or later, when the next threat strikes, they're going to find a way to find out everything about you, about me, about Natasha—everyone. And don't be naïve to think that they wouldn't try to use people you love to  get to you. If she knows what you're a part of, Danya can not only better protect herself, but _all_ of us can."

And just like that, the proverbial lightbulb flickers on atop Pietro's head. All this time, he'd simply been worried that Danya would end their relationship if she knew he was an Avenger. He hadn't really thought about the part that his twin suggests.

                "I promise I will tell her soon."

                "Good. Now get out of my room. No boys allowed."

Pietro laughs and Wanda fights to keep a straight face as he walks out the door. Pietro pauses to take the opportunity to head to his quarters for some more fresh clothes. He's whistling casually when he opens his door. He starts upon finding Steve standing there.

                "You're seeing someone, aren't you?" he grins.

                "…I'm gonna _kill_ that bird man—"

                "Relax. I figured it out on my own…wait you told _Barton_ over me…?"

Pietro rolls his eyes, " _No one_ knew except for Wanda. _She_ told him. How the heck did _you_ figure out?"

                 "When you started coming here every week just to do your laundry and leave, I got curious. She's cute, though. What's her name?"

Pietro narrows his eyes somewhat angrily.

                "You've been following me?" he asks, heading to his closet for more clothes.

Steve sighs.

                "Pietro, I'm sorta your boss, aren't I? I have a right to know why you're suddenly late to missions and meetings, forgetting to check in…"

Pietro sighs, not bothering to turn around while Steve talks.

                "If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't me following you. I had Natasha do it. She's better at not getting made. She got a picture of you kissing your girlfriend while out for Thai the other night."

Pietro scoffs and turns around, remembering how he'd coaxed Danya to get over the people staring at them in the restaurant. He's surprised he never noticed Natasha lurking somewhere nearby, near enough that she was able to get a picture of him kissing Danya.

                "Great. So everybody knows now?"

                "Not Sam. I haven't told him…look, you're like the son I never had, Pietro. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, alright?"

Pietro finds himself unable to be properly angry.

                "Thanks, dad," he says sarcastically, regardless. Steve smiles.

                "Does she know about you?" he asks seriously, taking another step towards Pietro.

                "She's a witch, too. Kinda like my sister. I met her through this coven Wanda joined. She knows that I'm fast. That's _all_ she knows, and if you don't mind, I'd like to keep it that way—"

                "You know that it can't stay that way forever, right, if you're serious about this young woman?"

                "…I know. I'm just not _ready_ to throw her into all of this, okay? Please don't force me to. I deserve to have a life outside of being an Avenger, don't I?"

Steve blinks slowly.

                " _Yes_ , Pietro, you do. But if I'm being perfectly honest with you, you're gonna have to tell her sooner or later. Because you care about her. Every time that you care about others, know that they become viable targets when a threat comes up. Are you ready for that? If she knows, she's better able to protect herself. _We_ can protect her, too, Pietro. Remember, you've got a team here. More importantly, a family."

Pietro can't maintain his anger, nodding genuinely.

                "Goodnight. Don't you kids stay up too late," Steve grins, starting for the door.

 

                Pietro speeds his way back to Danya's, the meeting having taken more time than he would have liked for it to, and he knows that by now, Danya is in the shower. But once again, he can't help noticing that Olivia is sitting on the steps outside of her place. Pietro speeds around the corner to return walking at a normal pace.

                "Pietro," Olivia calls, making her way down towards him before he's halfway up Danya's front steps.

                "I know it's late. I'm sorry—but I locked myself out _again_. I know it shouldn't have happened. I was taking out the trash and—"

                "It's okay," Pietro says calmly, "Just let me put this bag inside and I'll come help." He can't shake the odd vibe he gets from Olivia when he opens Danya's door.

                "Thank you so much," Olivia explains, waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Pietro steps inside, hearing the water running through the pipes in the walls and knows that Danya is in the shower upstairs. He sighs and goes into the den to grab the screwdriver off the mantle. He is able to quickly unlock Olivia's door. He says goodnight to her and turns to leave when she grips his wrist.

                "Are you and Dani alright?" she asks. He narrows his eyes. _Since when did Olivia remember Danya's name, let alone her nickname?_ Pietro scratches the back of his head.

                "I just…it seemed like you were in a hurry to leave. I'm sorry, I can't help but notice because, well, I'm a couples therapist." Pietro fights the urge to laugh for some reason. He shakes his head.

                "There's something you're not telling her, isn't there? That lie she spun about you being a paralegal at a law firm—that's what she said when you left during dinner. No offense, but it seemed like she really just pulled it out of thin air."

                "Really? That's what she thinks I do?" Pietro is rather impressed, despite Olivia's opinion.

                "So you _are_ lying to her about something," Olivia states. She hasn't let go of Pietro's wrist. He glances down at her fingers gripping him.

                "…Look Olivia, I really don't know you at all. I can't say I'm comfortable discussing my relationship with my girlfriend. What you said to me earlier, when we were alone, that was weird—"

                "Shh," Olivia says, cutting him off.

                "You're a man. I know what you want," she says, pushing him up against the wall suddenly. Pietro's eyes widen.

                "You feel the need, you want her to want you more, don't you? You're driven by man's most basic instinct…" All the while, Olivia manages to get closer and closer to Pietro, until he can feel the heat of her breasts pressing against him.

                "You want me," she breathes, kissing his neck, "You desire me. You want to impregnate me—"

                "Get the _hell_ off!" Pietro yells, and just as his mouth opens, Olivia forces her lips upon his. She lets her tongue into his mouth, but suddenly, it just feels as if he's going cold and numb. He speeds out of Olivia's door, choking and colliding with the wall when he makes it back into Danya's home.

                "Pietro!" Danya calls, rushing out of the kitchen to find the front door wide open, Pietro gasping and coughing on the floor. He points to the front door.

                "Close that," he chokes. Danya pushes it shut with a simple flick of her wrist, collapsing in her bathrobe at Pietro's side. She grips his arms.

                "Pietro?" she says worriedly. He clasps his throat and gradually, the pain subsides. Something was wrong. That was no normal tongue that Pietro had felt in his mouth a few seconds prior. He stands, Danya still worrying over him.

                "Olivia," he breathes, "That weirdo. She locked herself out, so I went to help open her door. She just tried to kiss me," he explains, reasoning that perhaps Olivia's tongue was pierced. He'd never experienced anything like it before. He wipes his mouth furiously on the sleeve of his jacket. Danya starts towards her front door, uttering curse words about Olivia. Pietro speeds in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

                "No. Don't go over there. I don't want to even see her, and I _don't_ want her talking to you," he explains, turning around to make sure that the door is locked.

                "…Are you okay? You looked like…like…"

                "I'm fine," Pietro promises, taking a deep breath and placing his hands on Danya's sides. He leans down to kiss her forehead and she pulls away.

                "Wash that bitch out of your mouth first," she says seriously.

                "I don't know what her problem is, but next time I see her, she's going to be sorry."

                "Danya, please, just don't even go over there, okay? Something is weird about that girl. I don't want you alone with her anymore—or her brother."

                "Pietro, I can't just—"

                " _Danya_ ," he says, a bit louder than he'd meant to, recalling his conversation with Steve a few minutes prior. Danya looks at Pietro curiously.

                "I mean it," he reiterates, "There's something wrong with those people. I don't trust," he explains emphatically.

                "Okay," Danya nods, running her hands through Pietro's hair.

                "No, you have to promise me."

                "Okay. I promise…let's just go to bed," she says, trying to lighten the mood. Pietro pauses at the bottom of the stairs to stare at the front door. Danya tugs on his hand. He reasons that in the morning, he's going to ask Danya how she feels about him moving in permanently. He couldn't wait to text Wanda about the whole thing. There was _definitely_ something strange about Danya's neighbor, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.


	6. шесть

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short-ish chapter. I can't seem to get around to doing what I need to do lately. Sorry.

                Pietro stares down upon Danya, her eyes closing and a pleasant sigh escaping her nose. The feel of her fingers on his cheeks, and the look she gives him when she opens her eyes completes him.

                "Are we going to talk about what you do for work now?" she asks carefully. Pietro winces on the inside. He had intentionally woke her up ten minutes before her alarm was to go off. Pietro distracts by kissing Danya's neck.

                "After," he says, pausing between kisses. Danya groans, gripping his shoulders. To Pietro's surprise, she pushes up against him.

                "Please, 'Etro? We still haven't talked about it. Not since we had that stupid fight." Pietro sighs, realizing he's not going to be able to kiss and fuck his way out of this discussion. Danya cups his chin and sits up on her elbow.

                "I want to know how you spend your days," she says sleepily, pushing her hand through Pietro's disheveled morning hair.

                "…It's hard to explain," he says.

                "Let me guess…you work for the CIA," Pietro laughs, "And you're a secret agent." Danya grins before kissing his forehead.

                "I love you, baby," he says. She grips his bicep.

                "Was I right?" she asks excitedly.

Pietro pauses, shaking his head. Danya sits up more, forcing Pietro to get off of her. She pulls her knees to her chest.

                "Then tell me. I've got…" Danya squints at her alarm clock, "Roughly five minutes."

Pietro sighs, staring into the headboard deeply.

                "'Etro?" Danya says, wrapping her hand atop his shoulder. He gazes down at her.

                "Look…what I do…well, it's dangerous."

Danya tucks the hair behind her ears.

                "Like what?" she asks, her eyebrows creasing a bit. Pietro feels an uneasiness welling up in his throat. He grips Danya's ankles, his crystalline eyes darting back and forth across the periwinkle sheet as he tries to think of a way to explain himself.

                "…Do you do something illegal? Is that why you've been reluctant to tell me?" Danya asks genuinely. Pietro looks down at her worriedly. A moment of silence passes. Danya backs away from him, prying his hands off her ankles.

                "Oh my god—"

                "Wait—"

                "That's what it is, isn't it? Are you…are you a drug dealer?"

                "What? Of course not," he says, laughing and reaching for her. Danya steps up out of her bed, and Pietro's heart breaks when she crosses her arms and looks at him like he's a complete stranger.

                "All this time, I knew you were hiding something—"

                "Dani—I am _not_ a drug dealer—"

                "Well, whatever it is, I know it's something bad because you won't tell—"

                "I'm an Avenger!" Pietro exclaims, stepping out of the bed. He starts around it towards Danya, but she backs up towards the bathroom door. He pauses.

                "What? Is that some kind of demon?"

Pietro sighs, pulling his hair slightly.

                " _No_. Why would I be a demon?"

As he starts towards Danya again, she throws up her protective barrier, trapping him in place.

                "Come on. Are you kidding me? If I wanted to hurt you at all, you _know_ I would have done it when I met you," Pietro explains. Danya stares into his pleading eyes as he stands there in his boxers looking rather disappointed that she doesn't trust him.

                "Then tell me who you _really_ are," she says, keeping her hand in place, not faltering.

                "It's _me_ , Pietro. Danya, I'm not going to hurt you… _come on_!"

Danya scoffs, letting the shield down and darting into the bathroom for a shower. Pietro knocks, but she doesn't unlock the door. He just waits atop her bed until she steps out wrapped in a towel. She doesn't say a word to him while pulling a pair of black jeans and a white blouse out of her closet, stopping to pick out a bra and matching pair of underwear from the dresser. Pietro sighs when she simply takes the items back into the bathroom to get dressed. She emerges roughly ten minutes later, her makeup done, hair in a neat ponytail. His heart throbs as she pauses in front of the full length mirror.

                "I just want you to be honest with me," she finally says, popping a pair of small black stud earrings on.

                "I _am_ honest with you, Danya," Pietro admits, approaching her from behind. She continues to adjust the item of jewelry in the mirror.

                "I love you," he says, pulling his arms around her waist. She sighs, closing her eyes when he kisses her shoulder.

                "Don't you know that?" he whispers.

                "I'm going to be late," she explains, placing her hand atop his for only a moment before coaxing him to let go of her. She had spent too long in the shower, wondering about him, wondering whether maybe she should just break up with Pietro before she really got herself hurt.

                "Dani," Pietro begs, beating her into the doorway before she can reach it.

                "I don't want you to be angry with me. There are some things that I just _can't_ tell you. If I do, I could be putting you in a lot of danger. You understand that? I don't want you in danger."

                "But _that's_ what the problem is, Pietro. What kind of danger do you mean, demonic—?"

                " _No_ —damn it, Danya, I'm not a demon—"

                "Well, then what are you talking about? Please don't lie to me. I've seen it happen before to the people I care about," Danya explains, thinking about her aunts all the way on the other side of the country.

                "I'm not lying. I told you what I am. It's complicated."

                "Okay," she says, "Then you'll explain it to me, later tonight. I really have to go now," she says, staring at the floor until Pietro moves out of her way. He listens to the front door closing, angered that once again, Danya had questioned his intentions, protected herself from him. As far as he's concerned, she has no reason to believe he would try to hurt her. Pietro wonders if perhaps he's being overprotective. She's clearly a capable woman, and a strong witch. He could never get through her defenses when she put them up. But that didn't mean a demon _couldn't_. He wastes half the day lying atop Danya's quilt, thinking of ways to explain to her what an Avenger is. He's surprised when his phone alerts him to a text message around noon. Wanda explains that his girlfriend is angry with him and he'd better start explaining himself to her. Apparently, Danya had reached out to Pietro's twin in the hopes of getting the dirt on him since he was so reluctant to explain it himself. He reads Wanda's text and actually smiles. _Don't drag me into your girlfriend drama!_

                He decides to text Danya a long description of what his job entails. He explains that he and his sister joined the team after Sokovia, but ends up having to back up and also explain Sokovia and Ultron, among other things, to allow Danya to more easily grasp the entire situation. He ends up sending so many text messages that he knows it will take a moment for Danya to get through them. Regardless, he anxiously awaits her response and begins to pace about the hallway. His phone rings and he swipes the screen, only to hear Clint's voice. Two convicts managed to escape from prison, with sights set on detonating the Empire State Building. Needless to say, Pietro's day gets a lot less boring.

 

                He's happy to see that Danya had responded to his slew of messages sometime after four, telling him they could talk more over dinner when she got home. He finds himself excited, hoping she doesn't hate him for earlier that morning when he refused to talk. While throwing one of the convicts at a local police station before rushing a bomb at high speed across the Atlantic and dropping it off in the middle of the ocean, Pietro had even pondered how he would go about proposing to Danya, if she still accepted him. By the time Pietro makes it back to her place, the sun is setting. He pauses upon the open front door. He notes the glass in the door's window which had been shattered, as if it was broken into. He glances behind him on the block and his heart pierces upon seeing Danya's car parked there. He rushes inside, every sense alert, calling Danya's name.

                Pietro panics, rushing into the kitchen where the kettle is screaming. He happens upon Andy kneeling on the floor beside an unconscious Danya. At first, he wonders whether Andy happened to be stopping by to visit, but as soon as he notices a strange and rather large dagger in Andy's hands, he starts to speed towards the two of them. And just like that, in a blink, they both vanish. Pietro stumbles over empty space on the kitchen floor, colliding with the island counter and knocking himself out cold. Upon awaking some short time later, the kettle is still screaming on the stovetop. Pietro staggers to his feet and fumbles for his phone in his pocket, hastily dialing Wanda. When she answers, the first thing she notices is the screeching of the kettle in the background. It had been the farthest thing from Pietro's mind, as all he can do is worry about Danya and whether or not her heart is still beating.

                "Get over here now and bring the team," is all Pietro says as he turns the stove off. Wanda doesn't have to answer for Pietro to know that she's already rushing out the door.

 

                "Slow down, Pietro," she says, trying to calm him, but he refuses to sit. Steve walks down the stairs after having checked out the bedrooms. Pietro flips the large ring in his hand that he'd found lying on the kitchen floor after Andy disappeared with Danya.

                "I _know_ it was a fucking demon," he says. Wanda can feel the anger and fear rolling off of her brother, see it in his aura.

                "It's just like I told you—I came here after I showered at the facility, found the door broken, and Danya was unconscious on the kitchen floor. That son of a bitch was leaning over her with a really big knife—"

                "Did it look like this?" Wanda interrupts, stopping on a page in Danya's book of shadows. Barton still kneels with Natasha at the front door, collecting a sample of the shattered glass for print scanning. Pietro hurries over to where Wanda is sitting and peers down at the detailed sketch of a knife. To the best of Pietro's memory, it's exactly the one he had seen Andy holding.

                "That's it," he confirms confidently.

                "Then that means that…Andy is a warlock," Wanda explains, reading on in Danya's book. Pietro's heart stops for a moment.

                "He left this behind. I don't know—must have dropped it when he saw me."

Pietro holds the ring out to Wanda. She stands up to take it from him. The moment she touches it, all she can hear is the screaming of thousands of witches, feel the gravity of powers surging throughout the small item. Wanda winces, dropping the piece of jewelry, clutching her chest and throat. She can feel what each and every one of Andy's victims had endured.

                "What's wrong?" Steve asks worriedly, starting into the room towards Wanda. Pietro grips Wanda's shoulders, trying to ground her.

                "You're okay," he says, "I'm right here."

Wanda closes her eyes a long moment and Steve walks towards the couch to pick the ring up off the floor. The red gem glows brightly for a moment.

                "I saw…all these people. So many…they were all witches. All of them dead now," Wanda explains. She peers fearfully out of the corner of her eye at the ring in the Captain's hands.

                "Their powers…they're all inside that ring." The more that Wanda uncovers, the more frightened Pietro becomes. His eyes wide, he stares at Wanda.

                "No, Pietro," she reassures, "I couldn't see Dani in there, or feel her. She's got to still be alive…what I'm guessing from the book and from what I saw, Andy _needs_ that ring to be able to take Danya's powers. That must be what he was after."

                "How the hell did he know she was a witch?" he asks, wondering about Olivia at the same time. He knew there was something wrong with those people. With a strong sensation of guilt, Pietro begins to believe that this is his fault. He should never have left Danya to come home by herself. Why didn't he just come to her place to shower? By the looks of it, he could have been around earlier enough that Andy would not have had time to break in and take her.

                "I don't know," Wanda explains, clutching her chest again as she stares at Andy's ring. Steve picks up on her discomfort with it and pockets it. He reaches for the book and starts to read it. Pietro collapses on the couch, covering his eyes and crying. Wanda immediately begins trying to console him.

                "This all my fault," he chokes, "She was mad at me…and now I'll never be able to say I'm sorry for lying—"

                " _None_ of this is your fault, P," Wanda says, kneeling in front of Pietro and rubbing his shoulders. Clint and Natasha stand in the doorway to the den, looking on with the feeling that none of them can really do much at this point.

                "Don't lose hope just yet," Steve says, looking up from the book, "Your sister's right. It says here that this ring, he needs it to take a witch's power. Wanda said she didn't see Danya in there. She's got to be alive. He just took her somewhere. I'm sure by now he realizes he's missing the ring. And he can't just kill her without it, or he can't take her powers. They'll just dissipate along with her soul if he doesn't have his ring…" Steve looks up from reading, "He's not going to kill her."

Pietro struggles to wipe his eyes and calm down. Wanda sits beside him and clutches his hand.

                "Let me see that," Natasha says, reaching for the book.

                "Listen, we're gonna get her back. You heard what Steve said, he can't get what he's after by killing her—"

                "Doesn't mean he won't _hurt_ her," Pietro interrupts, fearing the worst, "He could be hurting her right now. What do I do? I have to do _something_."

                "We'll figure this out," Steve reassures.

                "If anything happens to her—"

                "It won't," Wanda confirms, "We won't let it."

                "To call a warlock," Natasha reads, her finger scanning the book, "…well, good news is, we've got a witch of our own. All we have to do is set a trap, and we'll have him right where we want him."

                "What if he doesn’t give her back?" Pietro frets.

                "Well, we have the ring. He won't have a choice," Steve explains. Wanda stands.

                "Give it to me. He'll have a harder time taking it from me than he will you," she explains. Pietro stands, anticipating his sister's reaction, ready to catch her should she fall. She only winces for a moment when the ring makes contact with her palm before pocketing it hastily.

                "I'm not about to lose my best friend," she says. Pietro trusts in his sister the most, and for the briefest moment since he last saw Danya, a wave of relief washes over him.

                "Play time," Clint grins.


	7. семь

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that my updates are so infrequent. I lost my phone over this past weekend and have just been constantly distracted by this thing or that thing...ugh...

                "And you're _sure_ that you will be alright if he comes before I get back?" Pietro asks for the umpteenth time. Wanda smiles, completing the conjuring of a scarlet circle that she had begun to cast around him.

                "I told you; we have the ring. He will _have_ to follow you back in order to get it. Evil cannot escape the circle. So, once he is inside, we will have him right where we want him," Wanda explains yet again. He turns to look at his sister as she stands outside the protective circle. Wanda's eye glow that familiar scarlet that Pietro has seen a myriad of times. He can read his sister's confidence in her stature and expression.

                "I'm going alone," he reiterates.

                "I know. But if _anything_ happens, I'm coming to get you—"

                " _No_ ," Pietro refuses, pointing an indignant finger at his twin, "I cannot lose anyone else. You stay right here and be ready to chant when he follows me." Wanda pouts her lips slightly. Pietro has always been protective of her, and she of him. But being able to read into his mind, she knows how much his heart years for this one woman. She had never seen that in her brother before. She had never been able to see those kinds of feelings in him when he looked at _anyone_ , the romance, the passion, the desperation and constant longing. At times, it nearly brings her to tears.

                "…You know I have your back, P. Don't tell me not to," Wanda responds. Clint crosses his arms, watching the twins share a silent moment staring at each other.

                "Nobody's alone. We'll all be right here," Steve cuts in.

Pietro's expression gradually softens. He reaches outside of the circle to grip Wanda's elbow.

                "Don't even wait for me to get out of the circle—as soon as you see him, you start chanting."

                "I promise," Wanda reassures, taking a final step back. Pietro eyes the ring in his hand a moment before giving it back to his sister. Wanda's lips begin to move as she recites a spell from Danya's book of shadows. Gradually, the room lights up as the brightness of the circle intensifies. Pietro turns around to look at Steve, who only stands in place while Natasha and Clint actually back up. Suddenly, Wanda's voice grows distant and the faces in the room fade, the flames of the candles that Natasha had helped to light around the circle appearing to reach a height that makes contact with the ceiling, until it looks as if Pietro is inside a tornado made of fire. Wind whips Wanda's hair furiously, and the brightness is too much to bear. When she's able to open her eyes again, Pietro is no longer standing in the room. She gazes down into the circle to find that there is what appears to be some sort of looking glass. Through it, she can see the top of Pietro's head. Natasha nears the circle to witness the same thing.

                Pietro looks up above him, evidently unable to see the two of them watching. All he can see is a bright hole not far above him. The women watch him look around in this dark, cave-like new environment. He takes a few steps before happening upon a distressing sight. Danya is ensnared in the branches of an ominous tree, the tall top of which is clouded by a dark and foreboding sky that is full of black clouds. It seems like some other dimension where there is more darkness than light, a never-ending abyss of constant thunder.

                "Dani!" Pietro cries, starting towards her. But before he can make it to her, Andy appears in a blink, the same way that Pietro had seen him disappear from the kitchen with her no less than an hour prior.

                "Pietro—don't!" she breathes, her eyes wide, fearing for him. Wanda prepares herself to jump in if necessary as Andy smiles wickedly.

                "You can't do shit without your ring," Pietro declares, "And I have it."

                "Then let's do the switch, eh? You give me my ring, and I'll give you the witch."  
                "You think I am stupid?" Pietro growls, "You won't get your hands on that ring until you give her back to me."

                "Just go! I'll figure it out," Danya pleads. Pietro stares past Andy to look at her with wide eyes.

                "Ring for witch. Witch for ring," Andy says, crossing his arms, speaking in a frighteningly playful tone. He seems to be enjoying this.

                "…Give her to me first," Pietro demands, taking a few steps closer. Although already caught tightly in vines and branches, Danya feels them tighten even more. They seem to move more, the closer Pietro approaches. Andy laughs, sighs, and then snaps his fingers. The tree wraps faster and tighter yet around Danya's limbs. She gasps. Pietro makes a move as if to punch Andy.

                "Ah, ah, ah. If anything happens to me, she dies. Did you _really_ think I would wait aroun defenseless for you to make a move?" Andy grins. There are no longer whites in his eyes when Pietro steals a glance. Just pure blackness, a frightening display that causes Pietro's heart to jump, but he stands his ground. Danya screams and a line of blood drips down her neck from the prick of a thorn as the tree's branches tangle into her hair and hold her head back to expose her neck.

                " _Please!_ " Pietro begs, his eyes welling up. Andy laughs and the thorns pause in their cutting.

                "See what makes the side of good so weak? …Love. It is your downfall, and it always will be."

                "I'll give you what you want—just let her go," Pietro continues, "Come on! What's so special about this one? You have already killed _thousands_ of witches. What's one less?" Pietro continues to try and barter. Andy shrugs casually.

                "You don't understand…powers _feed_ me, and I haven't eaten in months. Now…my _ring_."

                "You can't take anymore powers without it. If you want hers so badly, you _can't_ kill her. And if anything happens to me, you'll _never_ get it back." The slightest bit of satisfaction wells up in Pietro's stomach as Andy grimaces at his words.

                "Looks like somebody did his homework…" The warlock paces a few moments, during which time, Pietro tries to think through his strategy.

                "Hmmm, well I can't say you don't have a good point. I saw the way you moved so fast. That's your power, speed?" Pietro only glares at Andy, until an idea pops into his head.

                "If you let her go, I'll willingly give you my power. Then nobody has to die."

                "Pietro—don't. Just get out of here and I'll figure out a way to—"

                "Quiet, witch," Andy calls over his shoulder. Danya's head is pulled further back by the tree's branches, causing her to be uncomfortably strained, enough so that she can't speak.

Andy grins, pondering the idea.

                "You let her go, you gain a power. Just take the deal. It's the only way you're getting the ring back," Pietro continues, trying to egg Andy on. The warlock pauses to look back at Danya, who appears not to be able to break free of the tree.

                "I like your offer…but where's the fun in that?!" Andy waves a hand towards the dark sky, and a bolt of lightning strikes precisely, burning clear through the branches where they hold Danya at the chest.

                "No!"

Just like that, Pietro rushes Andy against one of the tree's unnaturally large thorns, piercing him through the back. The warlock laughs, black blood trickling down the side of his open mouth.

                "You…lose," he says weakly and Pietro takes a step back as the warlock bursts into flames, screaming as he burns away. Pietro looks on, horrified as the tree slowly untangles itself from Danya's body. A hole as large as her fist had scorched through her chest. Pietro speeds over to catch the body as it falls.

                "Get  him out of there—now!" Steve demands, staring down with horror at what had just transpired. Wanda flips the page of the book hastily, trying to bring the two of them back, worrying that she had waited too long.

                "No, no, no, no— _Dani_! Don't you dare," Pietro stammers, pulling the hair out of her eyes, clutching her in both arms. His vision begins to blur as tears fall out of his eyes, dripping upon her face as it gradually grows white.

                "Dani? Sweet thing? Open your eyes… _please_ open your eyes! Don't leave me—not yet," he begs, shaking her lightly. He continues to call her name and beg, until he realizes that she's just plain gone. Wanda can barely speak, getting distracted by watching her brother's distress and the death of her friend. She buckles to her knees, trying to recite the spell through her tears. Natasha looks on, unsure of what to do, wanting to do something. Wanda drops the book just in time to lean against Barton's chest where he holds her.

                Pietro weeps uncontrollably. With shaking hands, Wanda reaches for the book, finishing the spell, and soon Pietro is sitting inside the dissipating circle, holding Danya's body in his hands. He looks up slowly, barely having noticed that he had returned to her living room. Wanda grabs one of the candles as they blow out, breaking the circle.

                "Pietro…I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry," she weeps. There is an emptiness in her brother's eyes, as if his soul has died. Wanda blinks away tears, knowing that feeling, _knowing_ that Pietro is feeling the same way that she felt when he died that day…A bunch of white and blue lights twinkle between Wanda and Pietro, blinding them from one another. Pietro gasps, jumping back slightly, still clutching Danya when a man he's never seen before comes into view, the lights disappearing. Wanda prepares to attack when the man speaks.

                "It's alright—I'm here to help. I'm not a demon." Immediately, the man kneels before Pietro, reaching for Danya. Pietro pulls her further away protectively, supporting her head with his arm, as if she's still conscious.

                "I'm here to help, but you have to let me closer. There's not enough time."

                "Who the hell are you?" Pietro spits with agitation, not believing him.

Without waiting for an answer, the man pulls Pietro's arms away abruptly, holding his hands over the wound in Danya's chest. Pietro squints when light as bright as the sun begins to emanate from the man's hands. Right before his eyes, Danya's wound begins to close as if it's healing, even the shirt regenerating and appearing like new.

                "Holy shit," Natasha breathes, stepping closer to the view. Pietro's eyes are wide as he looks on, Wanda pushing Clint back to see. Danya gasps, sitting up straight, clutching her chest, revived. Pietro stares in disbelief for a few seconds before pulling her into his arms, pressing his lips firmly to her temple.

                "Leo," she breathes, looking out of the corner of her eyes.

                "…Who?" Steve asks, crossing his arms and observing the new visitor.

                "Yeah," Pietro begins, smoothing his hand over Danya's chest where the wound had disappeared, staring, "who are you?"

Danya continues to catch her breath, making sense of the situation.

                "Leo," she says with closed eyes, her head resting on Pietro's shoulder.

                "I'm, uh, kind of an angel, if you will," Leo explains.

                "An… _angel_?" Steve repeats, and Clint finds it hard to believe that the Captain can't believe his eyes, considering how many aliens and robots they'd fought in the past. Leo nods, grinning awkwardly. Steve stands there full of questions.

                "…How did you know to—?"

                "Phoebe. Danya's aunt," Leo explains, standing up, "she said she had a premonition, which is probably no coincidence, seeing as you've spoken to her recently. I'm glad I showed up when I did. I couldn't sense you for a while," Leo explains, turning his attention to Danya. She sighs.

                "That's probably because that warlock took me to the underworld. Thank you."

Pietro holds her by the shoulders.

                "Are you alright?" he asks, still in disbelief, "Did that bastard hurt you?"

Danya smiles tiredly.

                "I'm fine."

Pietro kisses her forehead for a long moment. Clint rubs Wanda's shoulders, standing with her as she breathes a sigh of relief. Leo helps Danya up, leaving Pietro to sit on the floor and continue to stare up at her, still unable to grasp what had just happened. But when Danya reaches for his hand, he stands right beside her.

                "Yeah. He's, uhm, like a guardian angel," she explains to Steve. The Captain takes a step forward before extending his hand to Leo.

                "Nice to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers. Thanks for your help."

                "It's what I do. I'm a whitelighter."

                "Whitelighter," Wanda repeats with fascination, "I—I've read about those. But never met one before."

                "Leo. Nice to meet you," he says, shaking her hand, "You're a witch too," he states.

                "…How did you know?" Wanda asks dazedly. She glances curiously behind Leo's back, searching for wings. He turns around in some confusion as he continues to explain.

                "Well, Dani's aunt is a psychic. She told me a bit about you. Glad to know there are fellow witches for Dani to learn from. She hasn't been a witch for very long."

Wanda wipes her eyes and smiles, continuing to shake Leo's hand. He laughs unsurely.

                "Uhhh," Pietro mumbles behind Danya. Leo turns to face him.

                "Th-thank you. For whatever it is you just did…You can bring back the dead?"

                " _Weeellll_ …not exactly. It was a close call. She was _barely_ alive, but yes, I brought her back. And you're welcome."

Pietro shakes Leo's hand gratefully. Danya senses his confusion.

                "Clint Barton," Barton chimes, shaking Leo's hand next, Natasha introducing herself right after.

                "So, this is your team?" Leo asks Danya. She laughs, looking around the suddenly crowded room for the first time.

                "Actually, Leo, I've never met any of these people…what are you all doing here?" she asks genuinely. Leo glances skywards.

                "I've got to go. I sense another charge. But it was good to see you," he says, hugging Danya. She hugs him back.

                "Tell Phoebe I'll call her when I get a chance. I want to thank her myself."

Leo nods as he orbs away. Steve's mouth hangs open slightly as he continues to stare into space where Leo had vanished.

                "What the…?" Pietro mutters. Danya breathes a sigh of relief. Wanda hugs her tightly.

                "Hi. How are you?"

                "I'm just…I'm glad you're okay," Wanda admits, "And now it's time for you to meet Pietro's boss."

Steve clears his throat. Danya gazes over Wanda's shoulder at the tall, strong man with piercing blue eyes who had introduced himself to Leo as Steve Rogers.

 

                "So…what you think?" Pietro asks nervously, closing his doors as Danya steps into his space at headquarters. She scans the room until she spots a desk, making it straight for the chair. In truth, it had been a lot to take in, meeting all of these people with skills and superhuman abilities. Her favourite so far had been Sam Wilson. He seemed to have a knack for jokes, and it was clear that he and Steve were good friends. Danya sighs, looking over at Pietro as he approaches her cautiously.

                "Well…I'm sorry for ever being impatient with you for not telling me everything…I can see why you kept all of this from me," she says, looking around Pietro's room. He sighs with what sounds like relief. She's still scanning her new surroundings, taking everything in, and is surprised when she feels Pietro's hands on her knees. She glances down to find him kneeling on the floor in front of her. She grins, pushing a hand through his hair. He turns his cheek up, kissing her wrist.

                "But what I still don't understand," Danya continues, "Is how you're alive now if Ultron shot you to death. Are you still planning on keeping that from me?"

                "Well…I have my sister to thank for that," Pietro explains, kissing the backs of Danya's hands.

                "She cast a spell or something?"

Pietro pauses in kissing his way up her arms to look her in the eyes. He pulls his strong arms around her waist.

                "Well, she has…a friend. He wasn't here today, so you have yet to meet him. We call him Vision. He has powers, too. The kind of powers that enable him to bring me back to life, so to speak."

Danya brushes her thumb over Pietro's bleached brow.

                "What do you mean?" Danya asks, a hint of worry in her voice.

                "We don't know whether this is permanent," he admits.

                "Permanent? You mean…you could die again, at any moment?"

Pietro nods.

                "But I don't want you to think like that—we cannot, sweet thing."

                "'Etro," she says, her lip quivering. He holds her tighter.

                "Is that why you fell for me so fast?" she asks, holding back tears and smiling. Pietro laughs.

                "Because you don't know how much time you've got?"

                "No," he admits, "Everything is fast for me, sweet thing…One minute, I'd see a girl, the next, I would not remember her name. I never cared like I do about you. You are still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he says, his eyes sparkling. Danya blushes.

                "And you are like sister to Wanda…And I trust you. The more I got to see you, the more I wanted you. To be with you," Pietro admits somewhat shyly. Verklempt, Danya presses her lips roughly against Pietro's. He stands, pulling her with him, legs wrapping about his waist. He carries her a short distance to his bed where they sit kissing for a long while. Danya's eye catches a picture frame on Pietro's night stand. She reaches for it, and can immediately tell she's looking at a younger version of Pietro and his sister, standing between their parents, a family photo. Pietro sighs, traveling to Danya's back where he wraps his arms around her from behind.

                "They loved us very much," he says quietly against her ear.

                "I can tell." She thinks about all the times Pietro fantasized out loud about having kids, and finds herself able to finally understand him, the longer she stares at the photo.

                "You look like your dad…and Wanda looks like—"

                "Our mother," Pietro finishes. His voice is somewhat sad, but she can feel him smile when he places his lips on her shoulder, pulling the strap of her bra and tank top out of the way. Danya sighs, lost in sensations as Pietro continues on her neck. She places the photo back on the stand, tilting her head to the side. Her breathing picks up as she grips Pietro's wrists.

                "You know what it is I want," he says against her ear before nipping the lobe. His voice makes her shudder pleasantly and Danya moans when he pushes a hand down the front of her skirt and into her underwear. He circles her clit and she moans, leaning back against him, her head resting on his strong shoulder. She gazes up at him longingly, his lips full against her cheek. Without warning, Pietro dips two fingers inside her. Danya squirms for only a moment. He clutches a breast, shushing her sweetly, knowing that she will only moan louder, the more he messes with her. He smiles satisfactorily when Danya turns her hips up to his adventurous hand. Pietro blows a calming breeze down Danya's chest. She grips his knee desperately. The tightening of her cunt around his fingers arouses him furiously, and he strains hardened against Danya's lower back.

                "Yeah," Pietro breathes quietly, kissing her ear and sending shivers down her spine. She pushes her hand up the back of his head, pulling his hair gently. When she gets wet, he can't wait any longer, struggling with the fly of his jeans with his free hand.

                "Fuck me," Danya demands. Turning her around, Pietro acquiesces. They undress hastily. Danya smiles, waving Pietro atop her. He rests upon his forearms, immediately greeted by her hand gently guiding him into that most comfortable place, his favourite place to be; inside of her. Pietro moans wholeheartedly, feeling the heat clamp all around him. He slid in with ease. Danya knocks her hips up into him. He rests his chin atop her forehead a moment, closing his eyes and reveling in the feel of her arms circling his body as she continues to buck up against him. He begins to work, allowing Danya to rest. Pietro gazes down upon her moaning mouth and breasts as they swell and liven with blood. He pauses to shift into a kneeling position where he pulls Danya closer by the legs, bowing to kiss her breasts, suckling the nipples gently. Pietro enjoys every sigh, feeling the breath leave Danya's body. Every time she says his name, his heart leaps in ecstasy.

                Danya wriggles impatiently against him, trying to keep fucking where he had stopped. Pietro grins, clasping Danya's legs and gently bobbing between her thighs. The angle creates more depth and he watches himself repeatedly disappearing through her small, glistening opening. Biting his lower lip, Pietro cocks his head to the side with interest, grazing Danya's clit relentlessly. The breath catches in her throat. She grips her breasts, gasping at the rough motions of Pietro's thumb. He gazes lustily into her eyes, talking dirty to her, saying the things that make her ears burn red hot and her cunt flow like the Nile. Sometimes, he alternates to Sokovian, and she doesn't understand, but it matters not. It's just the way that Pietro bares his teeth and groans that gets her going. He reaches with one strong arm around Danya's back and brings her into a sitting position with him, and the two work their way to the zenith of pleasure, moaning with open mouths, nails digging into flesh.

                Breathless I love yous tremble from their dampened lips as they rest together, still attached, not wanting the sensations to stop. After lying there a long while, admiring each other's glow, Danya touches Pietro's hair.

                "Your hair is especially white today," she says. Pietro smiles.

                "…How'd it get like that, anyway? Do you dye it?"

After all this time together, Danya finally wonders. Pietro shakes his head.

                "It sort of changed by itself, when I was undergoing all the testing that makes me fast. I didn’t like at first, but…" Pietro shrugs carelessly. She rubs his chest, leaving her hand on his peck.

                "You know, I almost lost you today," Pietro says quietly.

                "But you didn't. I'm right here." She grins and he blinks back the tears that had begun to well up in his eyes.

                "This…guardian angel you have…is he _always_ watching over you?" Pietro wonders aloud, grabbing the cover and pulling it up over Danya's shoulder as he scans the ceiling as if to find Leo floating above the bed. Danya laughs genuinely.

                "You know something else?" she asks after calming down. She runs her hand over the stubble that's growing on Pietro's chin.

                "Yeah, sweet thing." He smiles.

                "Because Andy was a warlock, how much do you want to bet that Olivia's a demon, too?"

Pietro cocks a brow.

                "She tried to kiss me before. It was very strange. Something about it…it felt awful," Pietro explains, reminiscing and touching his lips, shuddering.

                "I'm going to vanquish her," Danya sighs, "Soon as I figure out what she is." Pietro laughs.

                "Awww, you cute when you jealous," Pietro says, pouting and  cupping Danya's cheek. She whacks him playfully in the chest, until they begin to play fight and Pietro ends up on top of her, restraining her playfully punching fists. She gradually stops laughing and instead begins to moan when Pietro kisses her neck, sucking it hard. There's a knock on Pietro's doors and he whips his head in the direction of the noise, rolling his eyes when Wanda explains that he's missing an important meeting. He sighs, reluctantly getting off of Danya.

                "I'm so sorry, sweet thing. I can't stand it here at times," Pietro explains, before calling to the door that he's on his way. Danya dresses hastily and follows him. Pietro pauses at the door.

                "Oh, you don't have to come. You'll be bored—"

                "I'm interested," she interrupts, grabbing his hand. He grins and leads her out the door.

                "Vision and Falcon are back. They might have found Bruce or Bucky," Wanda explains, startling the lovers as they walk down the hall. She giggles and Danya blushes slightly, hoping Wanda hadn't heard anything that had transpired behind Pietro's doors. Out of nowhere, Wanda slaps Pietro in the arm.

                "Stop thinking about _that_. You have to focus on work now," she mutters, almost as if she doesn't want Danya to hear. Pietro blushes, tearing his eyes away from Danya and glaring at his sister.

                "I _told_ you to stop getting in my thoughts all the time," Pietro grumbles. Danya grins. It had taken her a while to get used to being around the twins, witness their frequently tacit conversations.

Wanda sighs and rolls her eyes. Pietro grips Danya's hand tighter, pulling her close enough that he can wrap his arm around her waist. Danya finds her heart beating upon the sight of Vision. His eyes are already fixed on her as she and Pietro approach a large room where there are all kinds of gizmos, everyone waiting for Pietro to arrive. Vision extends a red hand to Danya, who hesitates for a moment, until he smiles.

                "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rousseau."

                "You too," she says, unable to take her eyes off of him, forgetting the fact that he already knows her name. When Wanda walks up and shares a kiss with him, Pietro's eyes widen.

                "Wha….? When did this—"

                "Obviously, it's none of your business, P. But if you spent more time around here, you would have known," Wanda interrupts. Clint laughs out loud, covering his mouth almost as quickly as the sound escaped. Vision grins sideways at Pietro, whose focus is now completely on him.

                "Alright, kids. Time for work," Steve interrupts. Danya rubs Pietro's back comfortingly until he stops staring at Vision. Although she doesn't understand most of what they're talking about, Danya listens with interest, gasping slightly when Pietro grabs a seat in a nearby chair and pulls her into his lap. A few minutes pass while Vision and Falcon give the details of their search for the missing members of their team. Danya's phone vibrates in her back pocket, reminding her that she has to call her aunt Phoebe and thank her for sending Leo at the last minute. Her phone continues to vibrate, and she feels Pietro grip her waist a bit tighter, clear his throat uneasily, and begin to harden all over again beneath her bottom. She turns around to steal a glance at him, his eyes closed and the skin red around his neck. The phone vibrates again and Danya knows that she's missing Phoebe's call. Steve stops talking mid sentence.

                "You alright over there, Pietro?" he asks. She doesn't have to look to know that Pietro's eyes are still closed. He sits up straighter, keeping Danya in his lap. She keeps a straight face, knowing how excited her missed calls have unintentionally made him. Pietro clears his throat again.

                "Y-yeah. Just headache," he lies. Natasha cocks an eyebrow, grinning, and as Danya looks over at the redhead, she has an awkward feeling that she knows what's really going on. Pietro grips the arms of the chair, turning it from side to side to try and distract himself. Danya finds it harder to keep a straight face, but she bites her bottom lip and manages until the meeting is adjourned. Pietro sighs, his eyes closed again when Danya turns her head to look back at him. Wanda saunters over and slaps him in the back of the head, muttering something in Sokovian that she doesn't understand. Pietro's eyes open with a jolt and he winces shortly before blushing madly. Danya moves to stand up and Pietro's arms lock her in place, at which point, she starts laughing. Wanda rolls her eyes, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

                "Well, when the hell did you start dating Vision?" Pietro asks with irritation. Wanda cocks a brow.

                "I _don't_ need your permission," she responds before starting towards her boyfriend and leaving the room. Pietro waits until Natasha and Clint are engaged in conversation, Sam and Steve walking out together, before standing up. He's red in the face when Danya turns around to look at him.

                "I think someone was calling you," he admits.

                "I think so, too." Danya grabs Pietro's wrist and leads him out of the room the same way they came in.

                "Where are we going?" he asks.

                "Back to your room, to take care of your little issue," Danya explains, unable to hide a smile. Pietro scoffs.

                " _Little_?!"

She laughs.


	8. восемь

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July.

                 Pietro sighs in bliss as Danya dismounts him. He hadn't let go of her hips, still admiring the pleasant glow lighting the span of her entire body. Her nipples still erect, he turns to the side to kiss one lingeringly.

                "Oh, Dani," he breathes, closing his eyes, drifting into her essence when he presses his face against her chest, entangling his legs in hers. She pets the top of his head, giggling. Her voice is a seraphic chime that makes him smile. They lie together quietly for a while, until there's a knock on his door and he starts, sitting up straight and throwing the sheet over Danya so quickly that he ends up shrouding her head as well. She laughs.

                "Hey, Speedy Gonzales, your lady still here? Sam and Nat are making some food. Wanted to know if we're having extra company."

Pietro speeds over to the door. As Danya pulls the sheet off her head, she spots Pietro by the door, one hand covering his junk while he opens the door just enough to speak to Clint. Barton laughs.

                "Sure—just set Dani a place," Pietro says hastily before shutting the door in Barton's face when he cranes his neck. Danya finds herself unable to stop laughing. The next thing she knows, Pietro is standing in front of the bed with his pants back on, pulling her to her feet.

                "We can't get enough privacy here," he explains. Danya cups his cheeks for a moment before kissing him.

                "I like them. They seem really cool."

Pietro grins, shrugging, "Yeah, guess they are. Are you hungry or do you want me to take you home?" he asks, massaging her naked hips.

                "I'm hungry. I want to stay and get to know your people more."

                "Okay." Pietro reaches for his shirt on the bed and Danya hastily dresses herself. She pauses on the way out of Pietro's quarters to plug her phone in to charge, minding that she has two missed calls from Phoebe Halliwell. She promises herself she'll call back tomorrow, considering how late it has gotten. Pietro whistles casually, wrapping an arm around Danya's waist as they make it to the kitchen, the fragrance of herbs emanating down the hall. Pietro inhales hungrily, stepping nose first into the kitchen. He's always hungry.

                "Thought we'd never see you again," Natasha says jokingly, cocking a brow as Pietro pulls out a seat for Danya at the table. Pietro rolls his eyes. The sight of Steve in an apron makes Danya smile. It nearly doesn't tie up around his back, considering his stature. He places a tall glass of iced water in front of Danya, asking her whether she'd like anything special to drink before listing off all they had in the fridge. Sam and Natasha stand at a large stove, flipping things and chatting with one another.

                "Water's fine. Thank you," Danya admits. She feels a breeze as Pietro speeds off to the fridge before coming back to sit beside her with a cup of orange juice. He gazes around the empty table.

                "Where's Wanda?" he asks. Clint finishes placing the plates around the table.

                "Vision took her out to dinner."

Pietro looks rather displeased with this information. Danya distracts him by placing her hands on his shoulder and kissing his cheek.

                "You would have known they're an item if you were around more," Clint grins. Pietro waves a hand uninterestedly.

                "But please," Pietro begins, "She moved out, too. She spends a few days away from here every week."

                "But she still _sleeps_ here, unlike you, always running in to grab more clothes and do laundry before you run back out," Clint explains. He remains smiling the entire time, and Danya has an eerie feeling that he's just trying to irritate Pietro.

                "How the _heck_ did you guys find out about my girlfriend, anyway?" Pietro asks, scanning the room. Natasha turns around and approaches the table with crossed arms, a spatula in her hand.

                "It was easy. You change your shoes quite frequently," she says, "All I had to do was put a tracker inside a few of them. Steve just wanted to make sure you were safe. That's all," she explains gently. Pietro sighs, eying Steve as he removes his apron and stows it in a cupboard.

                "But I have to say, you guys make a really cute couple in public."

Danya watches as Natasha sizes her up, feeling the heat swell at her neck as she tries not to imagine the many times the redhead must have seen Pietro macking on her in public. Pietro pulls an arm around her waist to kiss her temple.

                "Aww," Natasha says jokingly.

                "Enough," Pietro retorts, fighting a grin. Clint whips out his phone to show Pietro something. Pietro's smile is huge when he flips through the photos.

                "What is it?" Danya asks, feeling left out of the tacit conversation. Pietro turns to her and shows her a picture of a smiling baby boy, standing.

                "My nephew. Hawkeye's boy," Pietro explains, tilting his head towards Clint. Pietro pauses on a photo of the infant from months prior, in a bib with his full name on it. Danya immediately notices that the boy's middle name is identical to Pietro's, and doesn't have to ask to know there must be a reason for this.

                "He's cute," she says.

                "Thanks, ma'am," Barton grins, winking at her. Pietro laughs.

                "He started walking about two months ago," Barton explains proudly, "Here—let me show you," he says, grabbing his phone back and fishing through it until he happens upon a video. Danya can hear a baby laughing as Clint hands the phone back to them. Pietro beams at the child, hearing Clint's voice in the background.

                "God, man…he is beautiful. Cannot believe how big already," Pietro explains. Danya rests her head on Pietro's shoulder.

                "Yeah. I know he misses his uncle Pietro," Clint laughs. Pietro hands the phone back to Barton, grinning.

                "I haven't seen the kid since he was baby…" Pietro's eyes stare into space.

                "Yeah. You've got to visit us soon. Your sister too, and Dani. Sure this young lady will make a great aunt." Barton rubs him amicably on the back before helping Sam with the silverware. Danya finds Pietro staring at her next. He reaches under the table to grab her hand, kissing the back of it and closing his eyes a moment. He parts his lips to say something when Natasha and Sam loudly and excitedly pop open a bottle of champagne to bring to the table, Natasha pouring Danya a glass before setting one in front of Pietro. Pietro smiles, but Danya can tell he was going to say something important to her. He'd chosen to save it for later, jiggling his leg in an impatient manner under the table for a handful of seconds. The way he keeps stealing glances at her during dinner reminds Danya of that night they spent on the floor of her den. Pietro's always so quick, he doesn't just waste time staring into space. He only does it when he's thinking about his past. Without having to ask, she already knows what he's thinking about.

                They drink and Danya feels herself grow sleepier, despite how much she's enjoying the company, the stories. By dessert, Wanda and Vision drop in, Pietro distracted by his sister long enough that he doesn't continue to give Danya _that look_. She prays in her mind that almost having lost her won't make Pietro go baby crazy again. After a long hug with Wanda, Danya decides she's ready to sleep. Pietro excuses himself to take Danya back to his quarters. Once inside, he closes and locks the door before tackling her amorously. She sighs, smiling tiredly as he pins her to his messy mattress, where they had already scrambled around more than once before that evening.

                "I want you, sweet thing. I want you so much," Pietro breathes, letting his tongue fall between his open lips and dampen Danya's chest. She pulls him up by the head, slowing him down when he begins to fumble with his fly.

                "I love you, but I'm so tired. It's been a long day, and being tortured by a warlock is exhausting," she admits. Pietro's eyes widen before an angry expression floods his face.

                "That piece of shit tortured you?" Pietro asks, clenching the quilt tightly. She turns her head sideways to glance at his clenched fist, the skin looking about ready to burst, the knuckles ghost white.

                "He just…he told me how he was going to kill everyone that I loved if I wouldn't give him my powers, starting with you," Danya explains reluctantly.

                "Did he put hands on you?" Pietro asks, the anger not leaving his clenched brows. She sighs, sitting up and pulling out from under Pietro. The wine had only made her sleepier.

                "Tell me," Pietro pleads, his expression softening and saddening when he reaches for her. Danya holds his hands back, a massive headache hitting her all at once.

                "I'm fine," she says, just wanting to sleep.

                "I should have been there. I should have told you everything from the start. Then maybe…you would have seen that he was evil from start—"

                "It's not your fault, 'Etro. I just really want to go to chill out. I'm tired, okay?" she explains, placing a hand on his cheek.

                "I don't blame you for being mad at me," he says quietly, his eyes welling with tears.

                "I'm not," she says gently. Gradually, Pietro pulls his feet up on the bed and presses his hands to his eyes, crying.

                "Pietro?" Danya inquires worriedly. She grabs his wrists, forces him to look at her.

                "Hey…I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," she promises.

                "…I…I can't stop picturing…I felt you die. You were dead. In my arms," he explains. Danya straddles him, wrapping her arms around him. Slowly, he stops crying audibly.

                "If not for that whitelighter—" Pietro starts.

                "Shhhh."

His weeping reduced to mere sniffles, Pietro holds onto Danya very tightly.

                "I'll stay here tonight," she whispers, "with you." Pietro sighs. She feels him turn his head to the side and kiss her neck. He keeps kissing, maneuvering so that she's beneath him once again, kissing her all over. Knowing she had drank too much, Danya closes her eyes to stop feeling dizzy for a moment. The feeling of Pietro taking off her skirt makes her excited, despite how worn out.

                "I want to make baby," Pietro breathes, nesting deep inside her. She hadn't even felt her underwear come off, he took them so fast. She only wraps her arms around Pietro's neck, ignoring the ache in the muscles of her inner thighs; they had fucked so much already. But to Danya's surprise, Pietro drags this session out, slowing down and speeding up periodically. She find herself bathed in his moisture as sweat collects upon his brow. She lifts her head up off the bed when close to orgasm, the weight of her brain almost too much to bear. She rests her head to stare up at Pietro's concentration. At times, he closes his eyes, biting his bottom lip, others, staring deeply into her gaze. Despite how tired she is, he's beautiful to look at. Despite the ache in her hips, she loves the sensation of his weight on her, the way her breathing gets restricted when he inhales deeply. Pietro holds Danya tightly, pressing himself harder between her legs, letting go of the climax he'd held back for so long.

                She feels her legs beginning to fall asleep, as does Pietro when a few minutes pass while he lies his head on her chest. Carefully, Danya gets up, nearly stumbling as she makes her way to his bathroom, dripping of Pietro. She showers, rinses her mouth with Listerine, and crawls back into bed with Pietro, who hasn't moved an inch since she left.

 

                Danya's cell phone wakes her up at ten in the morning. Quickly, Danya grabs it and sneaks into the bathroom so that she doesn't wake Pietro.

                "Phoebe?" she says sleepily.

                "…Crap. Did I just wake you up? I'm so sorry, honey. I just had to hear your voice. All I heard was what Leo told me when he got back. You feeling okay?"

Danya sighs, sitting on the ledge of the shower.

                "It's okay. And yeah. I slept well, anyway. I had an uhm…exciting night," she explains, thinking of all the sex she and Pietro had had hours prior.

                "Oh, thank _god_. You have no idea how scared I was when I got a premonition about you."

                "Really, Phoebe, thank you. I don't really know how I would have gotten out of that situation. It's a good thing my boyfriend got home when he did. I just remember inviting my neighbor—the warlock—in for a cup of tea. He'd, uh, said he locked himself out of his sister's apartment, so I was going to let him stay until she got home. Next thing I knew, he was trying to steal my powers. We got into a fight, I threw him against the front door and it broke, he chased me around my house, knocked me out…it was crazy."

                "I _hate_ that you had to be alone. I wish you were here with us. So we could teach you more about magic…I hate the thought of you being alone," Phoebe explains. Danya peers through the door at Pietro sleeping.

                "I'm fine. Really, aunt Phoebe. My boyfriend takes good care of me. He's the one who saw the warlock take me in the first place. His sister was able to help him figure out how to save me. I have good friends here."

                "Well, regardless, you owe us a visit," Phoebe explains. Danya laughs, closing the door again.

                "Anymore demon trouble, and you call Leo _right away_ so we can help you. Don't forget you're family to the Charmed Ones."

Danya smiles.

                "Hey, speaking of which, I think the warlock's sister, my neighbor, might also be a demon. I'm just not sure what kind."

                "Well, of course. I wouldn’t be surprised. She must have been in cahoots with the warlock. Give me some details on her. Maybe we've vanquished her type before."

Danya can picture Phoebe walking up the stairs in the manor to get the book.

                "Well, Pietro told me she tried to kiss him. I guess it was…unnatural or something. He said it felt strange, and he also told me she was saying some really weird shit to him, like she was trying to seduce him or something."

                "Sounds like you've got a succubus," Phoebe explains without further hesitation.

                "A succu-what?"

                "Succubus. They feed off of men's testosterone. We faced one a while back when a bunch of homicides started showing up, men whose autopsies revealed that they had all the testosterone drained from their bodies. It's a pretty nasty demon. I've got my hands on the Book of Shadows right now. I'm going to email you the details and a potion for vanquishing."

As she listens to the pages of a book turning on the other line, Danya pokes her head out of Pietro's bathroom to find him lifting his head in bed, searching for her with half open eyes.

                "Dani, where are you?" he mumbles sleepily. She recalls Pietro's insatiable sex drive, wondering for the first time if it's just part of his enhanced abilities that make him so concupiscent.     

                "What did you say that demon is after?" Danya whispers, closing the bathroom door again.

                "It needs the testosterone of its victims to, uhm…yep—to make more succubi! Though hopefully, you won't have to turn into a man to deal with her."

                " _What_?"

                "Uh—don't worry about that. If you know for sure, all you'll need is a potion. Prue designed it after having to deal with the succubus close and personal. Didn't want future witches to have to worry about, uh, growing any new appendages just to track the demon."

                "Please. I hope you're wrong about this one," Danya explains. Phoebe laughs on the other line. There's a knock on the door. Pietro's tired voice seeps through it.

                "Dani. Who are you talking to?" he asks.

                "Shit," she mutters under her breath.

                "Phoebe, I gotta go. But do send me that email."

                "Of course, sweetheart. Take care."

Danya opens the door to find Pietro looking down at her tiredly. He smiles and wraps his arms around her, pulling her hard against him.

                "I dreamed that you left me…it was nightmare," he mumbles tiredly, stepping backwards to pull her back into bed.

                "Awww. I would never leave you, 'Etro. I love you." Danya notices that he had not bothered to put his clothes back on, and as he ushers her back into bed, she knows what will follow suit.

                "Show me," Pietro says in a lusty tone. Suddenly, Danya doesn't think Phoebe's demon diagnosis is wrong.


	9. девять

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking I have just one more chapter up my sleeve.

                "Baby, you gonna burn house down," Pietro says, walking into the lab that Vision had been so kind as to let her borrow for her potion making. Pietro pulls Danya back by the collar from the pot that had just exploded when she dropped an ingredient in.

                "It's not really a potion if it doesn't explode," Danya explains, shooing away Pietro's kissing lips with a reluctant smile. He wines.

                "You've been in here _all_ day…What about _me_?" he asks. Danya fights a laugh, trapping it in her throat.

                "How do you even know for sure Olivia is a demon?" he asks, peering at a scorpine creature on the table as Danya reaches for it with a pair of small tweezers.

                "Pietro, I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine," she promises, pausing before adding the ingredient, muttering to herself whether that was supposed to come before the burdock. He simply crosses his brawny arms and watches impatiently, one blonde-gray brow cocked, waiting to pull her away from any further explosions of the boiling concoction. It isn't long before Pietro starts tapping his foot impatiently. Danya gazes back at him, cocking a brow. He smiles.

                "What's this?" he asks, picking up a phial. He grabs another one and begins juggling them.           "Pietro," she sighs with some irritation, knowing he won't stop bothering her until she comes back to his quarters for alone time. Everyone had gone out, and she knew Pietro wanted to take full advantage of that. He laughs, speedily picking up a third phial before her hand can stop him and adding it to the number of items he juggles.

                "Watch," he says, juggling faster and faster, until his hands become a flesh coloured blur. Danya pauses in stirring the potion to look at him with some fascination.

                "Quit showing off," she grins, "I need to focus, okay? We can do whatever you want when I'm finished," she says absently, picking up her phone and sliding the screen open to review Phoebe's preparation email.

                "I hold you to that," Pietro says without having to look at her, picking up the plastic pipette and adding it to his juggle. She turns to look at him again, and feels a sudden pinch on her right butt cheek, screeching as Pietro laughs. He'd made the move so fast that she barely saw him do it. The door opens again and a scarlet beam pushes Pietro aside. He grunts, falling to the floor, the objects he'd been juggling continuing in mid air. He gasps, speeding to catch every last item as Wanda walks nonchalantly over to Danya's workspace.

                "How's it going?" she asks, cupping Danya's hand. She pays no attention to her brother as he places each item back on the table, complaining that she had messed him up.

                "Great. I just need…to crush a few things, add them, let it cool, and bottle."

                "Need any help?" Wanda asks.

                "I can take care of it. It's fine. But thanks," she admits.

                "What demon are you vanquishing?" Wanda asks. Pietro leans on the table to stare over at an open magic book with a picture of a hideous creature drawn on it. Wanda picks it up to read out loud, interestedly. Slowly, she looks at her brother, whose arms are again wrapped around Danya's middle as she uses a mortar and pestle to crush dried lemon peels and Naga Viper. Pietro closes his eyes, kissing the top of Danya's head.

                "Well, I know what attracted you demon in the first place," she says. Pietro is too busy kissing to bother paying attention to the conversation. Wanda rolls her eyes and Danya can't resist laughing.

                "What's so funny?" Pietro asks uninterestedly, moving to Danya's neck. She sighs, knowing she's not going to get him to leave her be for long. Wanda sighs, pulling Pietro by the arm.

                "Come…help me fix closet door in my room. I broke it," she says, making up an excuse to get Pietro's attention.

                "But—"

                "Come on!" Wanda demands. Pietro sighs and follows his sister out of the lab.

 

                When Danya turns the key in the lock of her fixed door (she'd been staying with Pietro and the team while her front door was being repaired), she hopes Olivia is already lying in wait to attack Pietro. He never leaves Danya's side, stalking several inches behind her and keeping his eyes peeled.

                "Maybe you should just let me take care of it and you go back to—"

                "No. It's my fight. And you're _my_ man. I want to get this demon bitch on my own," Danya interrupts. Pietro giggles.

                "Shhh," she says, stopping him at the base of the steps with a hand over his chest, thinking she'd heard movement upstairs. Pietro clutches his phial tighter, hoping that Olivia will just come charging down the stairs. There's a noise at the back door and Danya starts for the kitchen. Pietro hurries ahead of her, leaving Danya out of sight in the hallway. She listens to Pietro talk.

                "Olivia? What are you doing in here?" he asks. Danya waits for it, wanting to hear what the bitch has to say.

                "Pietro," Olivia says with some surprise.

                "Yeah, it's me. But what are you doing in my girlfriend's house?"

                "Well—uhm…" The sound of high heels clacking towards Pietro rings on the air. Olivia pauses.

                "The back door was open. I was just out in my garden when I noticed—"

                "No chance. Dani never forgets to lock her doors."

There's a moment of silence, during which time Danya can tell Pietro is questioning Olivia's intentions, and the demon is running low on ruses.

                "Well, it was…have you seen my brother, Andy? He was supposed to show up to dinner with me a few nights ago and I haven't heard from him." Olivia takes a few steps closer to Pietro. Danya hears him take a few steps back.

                "Why did you think he'd be over here?" Pietro asks suspiciously. Olivia laughs. Getting even closer to him.

                "Well, come on, Pietro…I know you're interested in me…Let's not kid ourselves," Olivia says seductively. There is a strange scuffling and choking noise, the sound of glass shattering on the floor. By the time Danya rushes into the kitchen, she finds Pietro on his knees with his back against the wall, a terrifying snake-like protrusion extending from Olivia's mouth into Pietro's, pulsing down his throat. The potion he was holding had dropped on the floor, shattered in a puddle of fizzling black fluid. Pietro's eyes are rolled back so that all that Danya can see are whites, his body shaking as if he's having a seizure. Upon seeing him, Danya screams. She throws her phial as hard as she can at Olivia's head. The bottle explodes, igniting on contact, and she falls back, her snake tongue slithering back into her mouth. The creature tears out of its clothes, as if this will stop the flames from burning its flesh. It staggers towards the back door, screaming in a humanoid voice that gradually becomes more like that of a demon. Danya uses her telekinesis to throw Pietro's dropped potion off of the floor and onto the demon. The flames intensify. Pietro falls unconscious on the kitchen floor.

                After rushing to him to see that he's still breathing. She shakes his shoulders, trying to wake him up. Something white shines in her peripheral vision. Danya turns to see that half the kitchen table is on fire, the succubus having stopped staggering to drop to its knees, screaming. Danya grabs the fire extinguisher from the corner, but by the time she pulls the pin and aims, the demon is finally vanquished in an intense explosion that blows her back against the wall, knocking her unconscious.

 

                Upon awakening, Danya finds Pietro staring over her, hears familiar voices. One of them is Steve's, another from someone she can't identify. A pair of brown eyes meet hers and she blinks upon this unfamiliar face.

                "My name is Bruce Banner—you're safe. Just…try not to move."

The grey-haired man finishes stitching a split on her forehead. Danya groans, feeling Pietro clasp her hand and kiss it.

                "Pietro," she mumbles.

                "I'm right here, baby. Everything's fine. Olivia's gone. It's going to be okay."

She blinks until everything is clear. The room in which she had been making the potion looks to have been converted into a temporary hospital as she gazes upon a metallic table where Dr. Banner had placed the bandages and what appears to be a case full of surgical tools.

                "And…all done," Bruce says, snipping the thread. Slowly, Danya sits up. Steve is standing against the wall with crossed arms, looking on. He smiles at her upon seeing that she's alright. Danya glances over at Pietro.

                "Wait…but I saw her trying to kill you," she says. Pietro shrugs.

                "Well, I woke up in your kitchen and felt fine. But almost the whole place was on fire," he says with somewhat wide eyes. She parts her lips to speak.

                "Don't worry—I put it out…let's just say…" Pietro continues, scratching the back of his head, "You're going to need a new kitchen table. You were half awake when I took you out of there," Pietro explains. She recalls bits and pieces from not too long ago, Pietro calling her name, clutching her face in his hands, a _whooshing_ sensation as he carried her away.

                "Pulse is normal," Vision declares. She hadn't seen him standing there, and the moment feels like a dream as he pulls a red hand away from her wrist. She jumps up, hugging Pietro tightly. He giggles.

                "How'd you _not_ die?" she asks. To Danya's surprise, Pietro laughs.

                "Mr. Maximoff's enhanced cellular replication and thermal homeostatic properties allow him to replenish testosterone much faster than the average human male. In other words, he was able to replace all the testosterone that was drained from his body in a matter of seconds. You must have passed out before he woke," Vision explains.

                "In other words, I walked it off," Pietro says, shrugging and kissing Danya's forehead. Steve laughs out loud, harder than Danya had expected anyone to laugh. She figures there's an inside joke there that Pietro will explain to her in great detail later.

                "Well, you could have called Leo," she says.

                "I never got his number," Pietro admits. She laughs.

                "No, I literally mean you could have just said his name and he would have heard you and come to heal me."

Pietro cocks his head to the side. She didn't expect him to know _everything_ about whitelighters, seeing as he'd only recently met one.

                "Hopefully, I will never have to do that," he says, "Can't say same for your kitchen, though…is kind of a mess now. Looks like hurricane hit it," Pietro explains. Danya sighs, just being thankful that Pietro is okay.

                "No—you can just throw the whole thing out. She'll want a new table, too," someone says, walking into the room while on the phone. A man Danya has yet to meet stops upon seeing her awake.

                "Mr. Stark," Pietro grins.

                "Hey, kid. Details I'll have for you later…okay, thanks. Ciao!" The man finishes his conversation and tucks a very expensive-looking phone into his back pocket before clearing his throat, "So I've got a great interior designer waiting on Danya's kitchen as we speak. It'll be brand spanking new in no time."

                "Thank you so much," Pietro breathes. He knew how much Danya enjoyed taking care of her home.

                "Wait…who are you?" she asks, staring over at Mr. Stark. He makes his way closer to shake Danya's hand.

                "Tony Stark…uhm…how have you _not_ heard of me?" he asks, glancing between Danya and Pietro repeatedly. Pietro giggles.

                "Alright, alright," Steve chimes in, "Let the woman recuperate first."

Pietro laughs even harder.

                "Rogers. Long time no see."

                "Yeah, _very_ long time. Thank you for finding Bruce."

                "Actually, he found _me_. Took a bit of convincing to get him to come back here," Tony explains. Bruce interrupts the conversation and Danya shakes her head, irritated by the ache in it.

                "Are you okay?" Pietro asks concernedly.

                "I think I just need to lie down for a while," she explains. Without hesitation, Pietro grabs her hand and starts out of the room. By the time he brings her to his quarters, she can't stand the ache in her skull.

                "Oh. Just a second," Pietro explains, speeding past her with a _whoosh_. He throws all of the covers off his bed and tucks them neatly back in right before Danya's eyes. She pauses to look around the room to see where Pietro had disappeared to when suddenly, he picks her up bridal style with a satisfied smile on his face. She gasps, clutching his shoulder. He starts towards the bed.

                "For you," he says, lying her there gently, kneeling at the side. He watches her intently, those baby blues making her weaker in the knees than her headache. Pietro could watch her do nothing all the live long day and be happy just to be in her presence.

                "Thank you, 'Etro," she says, pushing a hand through his hair. Danya groans.

                "Are you sure you don't need hospital?" he asks somewhat fearfully. Danya sits up slowly, shaking her head.

                "Leo," she calls. Pietro looks around the room expectantly. Several seconds pass and nothing happens, no bright lights, the tell-tale sign of an orbing whitelighter.

                "Leo," Danya calls a bit louder. Still, Pietro looks about the room only to find that no one new is occupying it. Danya sighs, standing up out of bed, using Pietro's shoulder as support. He stands beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

                "Leo?" The pair wait in silence. Still nothing.

                "Leo!" Danya calls impatiently. She didn't usually have to call him more than twice.

                "Okay. He's probably busy, sweet thing," Pietro says gently, "You know, flying in heaven."

Danya laughs. Pietro beckons her to lie back down.

                "Want me to stay with you?" Pietro asks, sitting on the edge of the bed. Danya pats the spot beside her. Pietro climbs in excitedly, pulling his arms around her, so that she rests her head in the warm heat of his chest. She ends up unable to keep her eyes closed, listening to Pietro's heart beat rapidly. It always beat like this, and she knew it was because of his enhanced speed. If any normal person's heart actually beat as fast as Pietro's, she knew it did not mean well. She gazes up at Pietro to find that he has closed his eyes, but she can tell that he's not sleeping. She watches him for a number of quiet seconds before he opens his eyes and smiles at her. She looks away shyly, only to feel Pietro swiftly clasp her chin and turn it back so that she meets his gaze. He kisses her. She pulls back unsurely. Pietro sits up, resting on his side.

                "What's wrong?" he asks, brushing a hand down her ribs and stopping at her lower back.

                "Nothing. It's just…I don't know if it's because of me, but I feel really shitty. That bitch almost had you today, and while I was with you. She could have killed you."

                "Well, she didn't. You won. You are a strong witch. I know so because Wanda won't stop telling me."

Danya smiles for a moment. She ducks away from Pietro's kiss so that his lips meet her forehead.

                "What's wrong?" he asks with a bit more worry this time.

                "Nothing…well, when I was making the potion to vanquish the succubus, Wanda said something…and I wondered if…"

                "If what?" Pietro asks, leaning over her more. She knew that if he made his way completely atop her, their conversation would only turn into moans and a mess of blankets all over the floor. She places a hand on Pietro's chest to stop him moving.

                "Well, I've been wondering ever since, if you maybe just said it in the heat of the moment. And now I can't stop wondering if the succubus was literally attracted to _you_ specifically—because of how much testosterone you produce—"

                "Dani, what are you _talking_ about?" Pietro asks, grinning with teeth, but Danya can feel his frustration as he pulls her hand off his chest and slides between her thighs habitually.

                "That night after my first dinner here, you said you wanted a baby—and I don't know if that was just because Clint showed you those pictures of your nephew or…" The blood rushes to Danya's cheeks. Pietro kisses her forehead a long moment, so long, that she wonders whether he ever plans to respond to what she had said.

                "Pietro?" she says quietly.

                "I _do_ want baby with you. Is it something I shouldn't want? What did that have to do with demon? I never led that bitch on…I would never touch someone else the way I touch you—"

                "I'm not accusing you of anything," she says gently.

                "Oh shit," Pietro says, his eyes lighting up with epiphany.

                "You mean, you think that demon _targeted_ me?"

                "Yeah. And I bet that her _brother_ was never really her brother. I bet she knew I was a witch and decided to help out a fellow demon. She'd have you, and he'd have me."

Pietro sits up, lost in thought. She waits a moment before tugging on his sleeve.

                "How about you just move in here with me?" he asks, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck.

                "But you hate living here," Danya reminds. Pietro grins.

                "Sometimes," he says, "Only when we can't get a moment alone."

                "Are you asking me to move because of the warlock and the succubus?"

                "Well, I've been thinking about asking you a lot of things for a while now," Pietro admits.

                "What do you mean?" she asks. Pietro takes a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He pulls something out of his back pocket and it doesn't take a second before Danya realizes what he's doing.

                "Pietro…" she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

                "Danya Rousseau, will you marry me?"


	10. десят

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me SO long to update this. I've just been so busy and also depressed, and on top of that, distracted. It's impossible to write at home where everyone is a distraction. Last chapter.

               Pietro could barely contain his excitement, but he tried not to jostle Danya too much as she rested. He kept her left hand held in his, admiring the ring that she had allowed him to place on her finger, the same ring that Wanda had said she would love. Pietro often trusted his sister's opinion, especially when it came to women. He kisses Danya's hand quietly, not knowing what he would do without both her and his sister. Together, they were the other half of his soul. Pietro watches Danya go to sleep before being unceremoniously called out of the blue. He jumps up out of his bed and speeds over to the door to pull it open and push a hand hastily over Clint's open mouth. Clint backs up, taken by surprise.

                "Danya is sleeping," Pietro whispers fiercely. Hawkeye laughs quietly. Pietro looks him up and down to see that he's in full gear.

                "Duty calls, Gonzales," Clint explains, starting down the corridor, "Suit up. She won't even know you were gone."

Pietro sighs, glancing back at the sleeping woman in his bed. He speeds to change his clothes and beats Clint to the rest of the team.

 

                A splitting headache wakes Danya up. She isn't sure how much time has passed until she looks at the clock to see that it's ten past eleven in the morning. Pietro is nowhere to be found as she staggers out of bed. She tries calling him, only to hear his cell phone ring beside her, trapped under a pillow. She sighs, picking it up, listening to his voice telling her to leave a message.

                "Babe, please remember to take your phone with you…wherever it is that you go on missions. I love you," she says, laughing weakly and hanging open the phone. On Pietro's lock screen is a photo of him kissing her on the forehead in Central Park one sunny Saturday a few weeks prior. She laughs a little bit more before placing the phone on the dresser. Standing up, Danya's headache takes a turn for the worse. She winces, crumbling to her knees. After she's able to catch her breath, she glances towards the ceiling.

                "Leo," she calls. She waits for him, and nothing happens. At this point, she's convinced that something is wrong. She dials Phoebe and when she gets the answer machine, she begins to feel like something horrible has happened. She stands up slowly, making it into the bathroom where she splashes cold water on her face. When she stands straight and glances head on, for a moment, all she can see is a black silhouette where her reflection should be. She gasps, stumbling back, coming into view at last. She knows it in her core that this must be some kind of an omen. It isn't just her head playing tricks on her. With all of the strength that she can muster, Danya casts a circle at the foot of Pietro's bed. Once inside, she sits in the center and makes herself comfortable. She'd been to the astral plane before, and figures at this point that it's the only way to get to the other side of the country fast enough.

                In the Halliwell manor's attic, she finds no one. When she calls again for Leo, her voice merely echoes in her ears. She hurries to the book to find that it's closed, and the front cover doesn't look right; the triquetra that's usually intact is now separated. Knowing this doesn't bode well, Danya makes her way down the stairs. What she finds shakes her viscerally. When she runs over to Piper bleeding on the floor beside Prue and tries to rouse her, she finds that she can't actually touch either of them. She calls frantically for Leo, hearing only echoes.

               

                For once exhausted from running so much, Pietro starts directly to his quarters, Wanda by his side nursing a gash in her arm.

                "Well, she liked the ring, like I said she would," Wanda explains, "So thank _god_ you did not go with first choice."

                "Okay, okay. You were right. You're _always_ right," Pietro says, laughing tiredly. Wanda smiles.

                "You know, when Leo comes by, we should ask him to heal that for you," he adds, eying his sister's arm. When he hears Danya screaming, he stops dead in his tracks at the same time as Wanda. He runs the rest of the way to his room with Wanda by his side. Throwing the door open, he finds Danya screaming on the floor where she's lying in a brightly lit circle. Without thinking, he rushes for it, only to be deflected by the barrier. He slides across the floor before standing up hastily and starting towards it again.

                "Wait!" Wanda shouts. Pietro drops to his knees, unable to stomach the bloodcurdling scream coming out of Danya's mouth.

                "Turn it off!" he begs. Wanda waves her hand and a scarlet beam of light emits from her palm, evanescing the circle that Danya had cast. Pietro rushes towards his fiancée and cradles her head atop his knees, shaking her, calling her name frantically. She awakens at last, chest heaving and eyes watering profusely. Danya makes out Pietro's worried face staring at her upside down. She sits up, pressing a hand into Pietro's chest to create space between them. Wanda tucks the stray hair behind Danya's ear.

                "What happened?" she asks calmly, "Where did you go?"

Pietro continues to ask whether she's alright. Wanda turns to him a moment to shush him.

                "Th—they're _dead_ ," Danya chokes out.

                "Who's dead?" Wanda asks calmly.

                "The Charmed Ones."

                 After spending ten minutes trying to convince Danya that she must have astral projected to hell instead of San Francisco, Wanda leaves her and Pietro in privacy. Pietro gets Danya into the shower, saying that she just needs to eat, have some water, promising that she'll feel better after a nice late breakfast with the team. She doesn't  say a word as he runs soapy hands down her back. She stands in the shadow of trauma, clutching his bicep with stress. Pietro loses track of how many times he tells her it will all be okay, and practically has to dress her himself before they migrate to the kitchen where he can already smell pancakes.

                "Good afternoon," Steve grins, placing a plate in front of Danya. She smiles as best she can. Steve pauses upon seeing her hand resting on the counter top. His lips fall open and he turns to stare at Pietro. But Pietro is too busy staring at Dani to notice. Figuring that something must be going on, Steve remains silent about the ring.

                "It's going to be alright," Pietro says again. Danya shovels some eggs into her mouth, chewing and staring into space. She swallows.

                "Leo's still not answering," she says quietly, turning to look at Pietro. He peels the bandage off of Danya's head. She winces and he pulls it back into place gently.

                "I think you hit your head pretty hard, sweet thing," Pietro suggests, rubbing her lower back. She sighs, wondering whether he's actually right. Danya gazes across the room to find that Natasha and Clint are wound up in conversation with Steve. She tries to convince herself that everything is fine, but she can't help feeling otherwise. Pietro decides to try and distract her with some television. Danya ends up curled into Pietro's lap on the couch as they watch cartoons. He keeps his arms folded around her. When the commercials come on, Pietro breaks the silence.

                "I was thinking about us getting a puppy," he says. Danya glances up at him, and to Pietro's relief, she smiles.

                "And how do you think the rest of your team would feel about having a dog around?" she asks. Pietro laughs.

                "Well, we can keep it at your place. What you think, Dani?"

Danya runs her hand absently over Pietro's chest. She sighs and rests her cheek there.

                "Think on it?" he asks. She nods.

                "Anyway, I'm sorry about your kitchen blowing up. Tony told me it would be fixed soon. Then, we can be alone again at your place."

                "It's okay…I like it here," Danya breathes. Pietro kisses her ear, which causes her to giggle for a moment. He gasps dramatically.

                "Was that a laugh?" he asks.

A vibrating sound on the table behind her startles Danya. She sits up straight, jumping out of Pietro's arms to answer a call from Phoebe.

                "Phoebe?" she says as soon as she picks up. From the sound of the witch's voice, Danya can tell that she has been crying. Pietro gradually stands, watching Danya's face pale. He catches her before she can drop to her knees in disbelief.

                Prue's funeral feels like a bad dream from which Danya cannot awaken. Pietro grips her hand tighter where they sit in the front pews. Piper crying, wrapped in Leo's arms, only makes the pain more real. Pietro's eyes are wet as he looks on, never unwavering in his hold of Danya's waist. At a point where Piper gets up to speak, Pietro simply rests his head atop Danya's, and leaves it there. Danya had felt that Prue was her second mother. After losing her parents, she had never known protection so intense. When she'd spent her summer before starting college at the manor, Prue took care of her like her own mother would have, knowing how much it stung to lose someone that important. As Piper laughs through her tears at a fond childhood memory of herself and Prue, Danya can still feel Prue's embrace as she wept the first night at the manor. It hadn't been very long since both of Danya's parents passed, and Prue just seemed to get it more than anyone. When the ceremony is over, and everyone is filing out, Piper hasn't stopped crying. Phoebe stands talking to Cole, and Danya stares ahead at the altar and myriad of white flowers.

                "…Baby?" Pietro clutching her hip startles Danya out of thought. She simply closes her eyes and shakes her head. All Pietro can think to do is let her know that he's there, just to keep his arm around her, kiss her cheek every now and then. She clutches his hand, holds it for a long, quiet while. By the time the ceremony is over, she's still sitting with closed eyes, resting her head in his neck, the scent of some light cologne filling her nostrils with every inhale. And just as Phoebe is about to grab Danya's attention, a demon attacks. Pietro gasps and Danya only feels the _whoosh_ of wind pass her by as Pietro carries her out of the church. Danya finds herself standing in a daze, the sound of something shattering inside. She makes right back for the door, and Pietro rushes in front of her, placing both hands firmly on her shoulders. She's forced to stop and look up at him.

                "Don't," he says, and from the look on his face, she's convinced he's afraid of losing her too.

                "They're still in there," she says desperately, pushing his shoulders to the side. As she makes for the open door, Piper storms out down the stairs, her nose red the way it is when she's furious. Leo follows shortly after her. He pauses to acknowledge both Pietro and Danya for a moment, explaining that the demon is gone. Danya rushes back into the church and down the aisle to find Phoebe clinging to Cole, silent in her grief. A vase that had been resting atop a stand sits shattered on the floor. Cole holds Phoebe in both arms, still scanning the atmosphere on high alert. Pietro sighs, wrapping an arm around Danya's waist.

                "Aunt Phoebe?" she says quietly. Phoebe looks up, wipes her eyes, and smiles ever so slightly. The two hug quietly and Danya can barely hear Pietro and Cole acquainting themselves in the background.

                "Dani…I'm just…" and there are no words. The two of them know that they would rather have met under better circumstances.

 

                Danya hasn't said a word by the time the two of them make it back to the east coast. It feels like a stranger's house when Danya walks through her front door. Pietro is forced to pause behind her in the doorway, nearly stumbling.

                "What's wrong?" he says lightly behind her.

                "I want to be with your family."

 

                 Three days later, Clinton flips pancakes on the stove while Danya sits staring into a cup of tea, Wanda reading her on the other side of the table. At times, Wanda will nod or say a word or two, and it begins to drive Pietro crazy that he can't hear what she's saying. Wanda only casts him reassuring glances every once in a while, enough to keep him calm.

                "Here ya go, kiddo," Clint says, throwing a dishtowel over his shoulder. To his own surprise, Pietro had said he wasn't hungry by the time they got to the kitchen. Clint had volunteered to make her something to eat, considering how sullen she was. Pietro only watches her as she quietly thanks Clint with a small smile, and pierces an omelet with a fork. Wanda places her hand comfortingly atop of Danya's for a moment before walking around the counter, signaling with her eyes to Pietro that he should follow.

                "I'll be right back…" Danya continues slicing into the omelet and he leaves her with a lingering kiss on the temple. Wanda grips Pietro's wrist as they walk down the hall.

                "She's…still in shock. This…reminds her of losing her mom in particular. Prudence was like that for her."

                Pietro pauses, staring into space, the same feeling overcoming him. He knows that distinct pain. But still, he is surprised by the sensation of Wanda's arms encircling him. At first bite, Clint's omelet is a slice of delight in a week full of despair. She even closes her eyes, savoring the taste.

                "Pietro's on edge. I can tell. That kid's _always_ hungry…you should know you're scaring him." She hears the smile on Barton's face before looking at him herself.

                "I'm sorry. I don't mean to downplay your loss—my condolences—but you ought to know the kind of man you're involved with. I'd hate to see you get hurt if _he_ gets hurt."

                "…Are you telling me to break up with him?" Danya asks, cocking a brow and pausing in bringing a first bite of pancake to her lips.

                "I'm just saying…always be prepared."

Danya internalizes the man's words, reads the crows feet in the corners of his eyes, the type of eyes that must have seen more death than anyone else she'd ever had the pleasure of conversing with.

                "I know what he does. I know what he…the risks. I come with risks, too. I'm a witch."

                "So long as you know, ma'am. But I can tell you that I've always got eyes on that boy. On everyone."

                "Thank you," she says sincerely.

                "You like wide open spaces?"

                "What?"

                "You look like you could use a vacation."

The timing seems more than inopportune, and Danya stares over at Clint in confusion.

 

                Nathaniel Pietro Barton runs naked out of the bathroom, laughing and evading Danya who nearly slips in the hallway on the way to his room to catch him. She hears Pietro laugh behind her, feeling a _swoosh_ of wind as he rushes by, snatching up the naked toddler before he can make it through his bedroom door. Pietro laughs, coddling Nathaniel in his Elmo towel, the boy unable to stop giggling. Danya sighs, placing her wet hands on her hips.

                "I can't keep up with you two," she admits, grinning. Pietro sends her a wink.

                "See? Boy is fast, like his uncle!"

Nathaniel grabs Pietro's cheeks laughing as Pietro carries him into the bedroom.

                "Alright, kid. Time to get dressed."

                "I'll go start on dinner, then," Danya explains, waving a tired hand as she makes her way down the stairs. Clint's other children are much easier to look after, listening when she tells them to come inside and wash their hands for a snack while she finishes cooking. Barton and his wife were away on a long deserved vacation, and it was Barton's idea to bring her and Pietro out as sitters. He thought some time out of the city in fresh air would do Danya some good, and hopefully cheer Pietro up. He had been obsessively worrying over Danya from the moment they got back from California. Pietro speeds down to the kitchen as soon as Danya closes the oven. She gasps, having been completely distracted in preparing lasagna. Nathaniel nearly chokes laughing again, Pietro setting him down gently so that he can walk. He walks around Pietro, looking up at him with fascination, biting his fingers. Danya crosses her arms and leans back against the counter to admire the two of them. She had never actually seen how much Pietro loved children. It made her feel rather warm and fuzzy on the inside.

                "Want to see something cool?" Pietro asks, getting down on one knee to speak to Nathaniel. Pietro speeds through several drawers and cabinets and a set of makeshift drums appears on the kitchen floor in front of little Nathaniel. Pietro hands the boy a spoon and guides him to tap the top of an overturned pot.

                "Bam," Pietro says placing another wooden spoon in the boy's hand and making him hit a metal colander. Nathaniel pauses to stare with big eyes at the cooking ware in front of him, laughing when Pietro gets him to play a beat.

                "You want to be rock star, don't you?" he asks. Nathaniel stomps his foot playfully, wriggling, and then Pietro lets him go. The boy plays freely, with no rhythm. Pietro sits on the floor smiling and clapping, goading him on.

                "He's a natural, Dani," Pietro says. She laughs. With Nathaniel totally immersed in his instruments, Pietro breezes around the kitchen once more, setting the table. Danya finds him in front of her, hands on her hips before she knows it.

                "When will the food be ready? I'm hungry," he says before kissing her full on the lips. She begins to answer, but pauses upon watching Pietro's face, the eyes still closed as he moans and kisses her again, and again, sucking on her bottom lip. He grips her waist tighter, slipping his hand into the back pocket of her shorts and cupping her cheek. She wraps her arms around his neck, lost in the kiss.

                "Ew," comes the voice of Clinton's daughter. She pauses at the doorway, covering her eyes. Pietro turns around.

                "What do you mean, ew, missy? Nieces get kisses too." He approaches the girl and removes her hands from her eyes. She laughs as he kisses her forehead.

                "Is dinner ready, Dani?" she asks hopefully. The girl stares longingly at the oven.

                "Almost, sweet stuff. In the mean time, do you want more veggies and hummus?" The girl nods and Danya opens the fridge to retrieve the celery.

                "Nate's making a lot of noise," she adds, walking over to her baby brother. He still bangs on his pots and pans, leaning over them to really test the sounds.

                "Well, your brother told me he wants to be a rock star when he grows up," Pietro says jokingly.

                "Did _not_. He doesn't even talk yet," she retorts.

                "I'm joking," he laughs, tussling her hair. She sticks her tongue out at him. Pietro copies her.

The two older children take their seats at the table. Danya continues washing dishes while Pietro gives Nathaniel drum lessons. By the time she turns around, Pietro is pouring Nathaniel a cup of apple juice. He brings the boy to the table, kissing him atop the head as he sits him in his lap. Danya pulls the hot lasagna out of the oven with a pair of mitts. Nate babbles between sips of juice, gripping the sleeve of Pietro's shirt and leaning back into him comfortably. The pair seem inseparable. As she divvies up the lasagna, Pietro asks Clint's older children how they're doing in school. They seem to have endless stories for him, until the quintuplet is seated around the table, enjoying their food. When the kids are done with dessert, they play games and jump on the couch until Pietro rounds them up one by one, making sure they brush their teeth for bed. Danya continues to clean up around the house, picking up legos and crayons. She hears the tub running again, knowing the other two kids are getting their baths. When she makes her way up the stairs, Pietro is tucking Nathaniel into his crib. When he catches Danya's eye from inside the room, he motions to her to remain quiet. She grins.

                Leaving the lamp on, Pietro speeds through the door, and closes it silently. He sighs with relief. Danya holds back a laugh. The first night over, Nathaniel had cried for his parents quite late into the night, causing his siblings to make excuses to keep getting out of bed because he was making too much noise. But after Danya's unsuccessful attempts to calm the boy, Pietro managed to rock him to sleep. It seemed as if the boy had gone to sleep with no trouble when Pietro handled him. He seemed to like Danya, but he wasn't as amused by her entertainments, since she couldn't play lightning speed peek-a-boo. Pietro sighs, pressing Danya up against the wall unexpectedly. He groans.

                "I like the kids…but they're exhausting."

Danya gasps and grins from ear to ear. She holds Pietro's head in both hands and gazes wide eyed up at him. He looks down at her in confusion until she admits what she's thinking.

                "I _never_ thought I'd hear you say that." Pietro isn't one for tired, something Danya knew from day one being in a relationship—particularly the physical aspect of it—with him. He smiles tiredly.

                "Let's go to bed," he says, pulling her by the wrist towards the guest room.

                "…To sleep?" she asks. Pietro looks back at her and laughs.

                "Maybe."

She pauses at the doorway and Pietro turns around upon losing her wrist.

                "Let me go make sure the front door is locked," she says. Pietro sighs and she feels a _whoosh_ as he goes to double check, returning before she has the chance to walk towards the stairs.

                "It is locked, sweet thing," he says, "But in middle of nowhere, we're safe," he promises, guiding her into the room with a hand on her lower back. In a flash, his clothes are gone and the bathroom light is on. She hears the shower run and takes her time undressing to go brush her teeth. When she's rinsing her mouth, Pietro's muscular arms circle her waist. She feels the dampness of his body against her back. When she's standing up straight, she catches a glimpse of him in the mirror behind her, eyes closed pleasantly, lips plastered to the back of her head, his hair wet and slicked back. He cups a breast, enclosing  it entirely in one palm. Danya grins and steps backwards from the sink, causing Pietro to step back towards the door.

                "I'll be a minute," she says. He kisses her cheek and returns to the guestroom to get dressed. Danya showers in the comfort of the steamy bathroom. When she makes it to the guestroom, Pietro's lying back in bed with his hands behind his head, eyes closed. She wonders whether he's actually sleeping, quietly drying off, slathering on some lotion, slipping into a t-shirt and shorts. She goes to rest her head on Pietro's chest, and he turns sideways, making his way conveniently on top of her. He hadn't been sleeping at all. He yawns, his stomach and chest expanding into hers. Pietro sighs down at her, a maelstrom of eros she's familiar with.

                "I thought you were asleep," she admits.

                "Never. Not before I get to kiss you," Pietro explains, whispering tiredly. He kisses her, simultaneously reaching for the lamp to turn it off. When he begins to roll to his side again, Danya locks him in place with her legs. Despite her exhaustion, she finds her core yearning for him. Pietro pauses in the dark, but Danya can still make out his smile that gradually shines in the moonlight. She pushes her hands through his hair.

                "I don't know what I would have done without you," she says. In the week since Prue's death, Pietro had simply been by her side, a shoulder to cry on, a chest to sleep on, an ear to listen, a soothing presence. Tears well up in her eyes and she sniffles.

                "You would be okay," Pietro says comfortingly, massaging her hip firmly beneath the quilt.

                "You are the strongest woman I know."

She smiles weakly, both their eyes having adjusted to the darkness enough to make out expressions.

                "You…complete me, Pietro." Even as her voice breaks and more tears stream out of her eyes, Pietro smiles. He thumbs away the tears. For a while, he kisses her forehead as she holds him. And just as she had intended, the kissing intensifies to a point of no return. Pietro hastily wriggles out of his boxers after pulling Danya's shorts down. He fills her completely where she had sorely missed him. He shushes her moan with a gentle kiss and an exhale, the bedroom door still hanging open, the children asleep down the hall. She curls her hips up against Pietro, enjoying the weight of him. He starts with slow long thrusts until she's driven mad. In no time, the only sounds are of skin and heavy breathing. Danya paws all over Pietro's strong chest, pushing her hands up the back of his head. She reaches her end and feels him watering her on the inside with warmth. Pietro trembles, whimpering somewhat and she clings to him for dear life.

                He spends a while littering her neck in kisses, whispering dirty yet sweet things that make her spine shiver. She falls asleep wrapped up in him, in the most comfort she'd felt for days.

 

                The rest of the week they spent running about the vast expanse of farmland Clinton owned, chasing after and playing with the children. Clint's daughter enjoyed soccer practice with Pietro, honing her goalie skills. One afternoon, a Jeep pulls up, Barton and his wife arriving home with arms extended as the kids make for them. Danya carries Nathaniel who is smiling in the mid-day sun. Pietro clasps Danya's hand and when she hands Nathaniel to Barton, it feels wrong in some way, as if her little dream life is coming to an end at last, and the events of the past few weeks re-awaken within her mind. In all of her time out of the city, in the fresh air, with people she had never known, she'd nearly forgotten what had made her so upset. It isn’t until Pietro is holding her face in both hands, looking concerned, that she speaks.

                "I'm fine."

Pietro eyes her a few seconds longer, his hands traveling to her hips. He kisses her cheek.

                "Are you ready to go?"

She nods. Pietro simply speeds up the front steps to grab his and Danya's luggage; they had already packed that morning. She had barely been present whilst saying goodbye to the Barton family. Once inside the car, she fastens her seatbelt and Pietro pulls off onto a deserted road. Beautiful scenery begins to pass them by, the spring a welcoming green landscape. Pietro's hand lands atop Danya's where she had rested it.

                "So, what did you think?" he asks gently, "Did you have a good time there? Did you like my nephew?"

She smiles.

                "I'd have to say it was good practice."

Pietro's eyes are off the road a moment long enough that any normal person would have swerved and crashed. His widened and hopeful gaze sends a rushing sensation through her entire body, the same one she'd felt the first time that Pietro kissed her. A solitary tear rolls out of his steel blue eye, and drips down the corner of a toothy grin.


End file.
